If I were able to decide which projects received funding I would be most excited about funding projects related to early microbial exposure, the immune systems role, and how that relates to allergies, asthma, and other diseases. I may be bias because this was what my journal club presentation was on, but I think it’s fascinating how the immune system works with our natural microbiome to ensure we don’t react to it. There has been significant research on the role of regulatory T cells in developing tolerance to the gut microbiome just like we develop tolerance to food, but I think it would be fascinating to know more about the respiratory microbiome and how we develop tolerance to those microbes. I think it might reveal a lot about asthma and infectious diseases. The respiratory tract is the most common site of infection and learning about our natural microbiome could potentially play a role in decreasing infectious disease. Just like probiotics aide the gut, they might also aide the respiratory tract. This would be significant in the world of health care because of the massive prevalence of respiratory infections.
