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Health + Wellness

Every person or animal that suffers from ill health and every pathogen that causes disease has its own genome. Research in this area examines how genome function directs the development of healthy bodies and how disorders disrupt that function.

Exploring the genomes of the microbes we live with also allows us to discover the molecular tools they use to aid or attack their hosts or to fight each other, knowledge that can act as a pathway to well-being.

Featured Stories

Scanning electron micrograph of Salmonella Typhimurium invading a human epithelial cell. S.Typhimurium has been decreasing in prevalence due to vaccinations by the poultry industry. Photo credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Brendan Harley and Rebecca Riggins recently received their second NIH grant to investigate glioblastoma
"The work will focus on germ cell development (GCD), hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian function (HPOF), spermatogenesis and fertilization (S&F), embryo-uterine crosstalk and pregnancy (EUC&P), and placentation and preterm birth (Pl&PTB).
Chamber flow simulation for particle adhesion for 220 nm particles (top) and for 750 nm particles (bottom). Larger particles show greater retention after the wash stage than smaller particles.
Civil and environmental engineering professor Helen Nguyen (left) and pathobiology professor Csaba Vargo (right)
Zeynep Madak-Erdogan and her colleagues found that stress responses vary between lung cancer patients living in high-violence or low-violence zip codes. These differences likely lead to worse lung cancer outcomes in patients living in violent neighborhoods, the researchers found.  Photo by Jonathan King