Mounting evidence demonstrates that the gut microbiome
contributes to homeostasis. Moreover, alterations to the microbiome can
impact physiology. These observations implicate the microbiome in
human and animal health and disease. Consequently, we may be able to
improve both clinical and wildlife preservation outcomes by defining
the specific ways through which the gut microbiome impacts
physiology.
Unfortunately, the aspects of the gut microbiome that make it a
fascinating research topic - namely its complexity - challenges
discovery of these microbiome-mediated mechanisms of health. A
diverse array of microbes potentially interact with myriad aspects
of animal physiology and these interactions may be mediated by
various environmental features, such as diet, pathogens, drugs, or
toxicants. Indeed, ascertaining how the microbiome influences
specific diseases or disorders is akin to searching for a needle in
a haystack.
We develop and apply systems biology research tools that deconvolute
this complexity to uncover how the microbiome contributes to
physiology and how these contributions impact human and animal
health, ecology, and evolution. In particular, we innovate and
integrate biological, computational, and analytical tools that yield
specific hypotheses about how the microbiome contributes to health
or how particular exogenous features disrupt this contribution.
Subsequent experimentation tests these hypotheses to assess their
validity. Our long term goal is to use our knowledge of the gut
microbiome to develop novel clinical diagnostics and theapeutics,
and improve our ability to monitor and manage wildlife
populations.
We are located at Oregon State University and are affiliated with
the Department of Microbiology, the Department of Statistics, the
Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing, and the OSU Microbiome
Initiative.
We manage a rich array of interdisciplinary research projects that center on understanding the gut microbiome's contribution to health. Our studies frequently involve metagenomic investigations of animal models, human clinical populations, or wildlife and often include methodological and technological innovation.
See the full catalog of scientific publications that the lab has produced as well as the news media that covers our work.
Talented scientists, including exceptional trainees, fuel the productivity and advance the mission of our laboratory.
Our laboratory offers various services to the professional community, including a fee-for-service microbiome data generation and analysis core facilty, consulting, and contractual research arrangements.
Advocates of open science, we make all software and data associated with our research publicly available upon publication. Our efforts also often result in new research tools, such as software and databases, that advance microbiome research.
Members of our laboratory implement a variety of services and protocols to conduct their research. The link above organizes access to information pertinent to our research environment.
email: thomas[dot]sharpton[at]oregonstate[dot]edu
mail: 226 Nash Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR, 97331
twitter: @tjsharpton