Welcome!

I’m a postdoctoral scholar in the Laboratory of Prof. Ran Blekhman at the University of Chicago, where I study microbial transmission in human and wild baboon populations through metagenomic and genomic approaches. I am interested in studying how commensal as well as pathogenic bacteria spread and persist in individuals that are in close social contact, like a mother with her infant or members of a family group. In particular, my current projects are focused on:

• Investigating strain transmission between maternal breast milk and her infant’s gut microbiome. The maternal milk often represents the sole source of nutrition for the baby for the first months of life, and yet very little is known about its microbial composition at the species and strain level. This study aims at studying the maternal milk microbiome in relation to the infant’s gut microbiome, and to better represent maternal milk in public repositoriese. This project is in collaboration with Prof. Cheryl Gale and Prof. Ellen Demerath.

• Strain transmission within a population of wild baboons that has been studied for over 50 years, as part of the Amboseli Baboon Research Project. This unique cohort represents the perfect scenario for studying how microbial populations change over time within a social group of hosts. This project is in collaboration with Prof. Elizabeth Archie, Prof. Jenny Tung and members of their research groups.