If I was the head of a funding agency like the NIH and could decide what projects to award funding to, I would be excited to fund a project related to the research article we read this term titled “Disruption of the microbiota across multiple body sites in critically ill children”. I thought this study was particularly interesting and important as the majority of the focus around critically ill patients has been on how to destroy the infections and harmful bacteria, and not enough about how to support the good bacteria and immune system. Researchers here looked at classifying and quantifying the bacteria in the gut of patients in the PICU and how the microbiota changes during critical illness. They found that not only do these patients present with pathogens but specifically a loss of commensal organisms from various body sites. Taking this research further, I would be interested in funding a study that looked at how giving treatment, such as probiotics, affected the microbiome and outcome of those in the PICU. I would like to see if it increased the number of good bacteria and helped them to fight infections and subsequently have better outcomes. From this project, we might discover new avenues of treatment in healthcare and ultimately be able to better support critically ill patients in the hospital and in general.