Karen Guillemin

Biography

 All animals are complex systems of interacting host and microbial cells. In the Guillemin lab, we strive to understand how hosts and their associated microbial communities shape each other. We use genetically tractable and microbiologically manipulable models systems including zebrafish and fruit flies. We explore the reciprocal impacts of microbial communities on their hosts and host environments on resident microbiota during development and in the context of disease. We perform experiments using gnotobiotic animals with defined microbial associations to uncover the causal relationships in these reciprocal interactions and to understand their mechanisms. We investigate host-microbe systems with scalable complexity, from germ-free and mono-associated animals to conventionally reared animals with their full complement of microbes. From these investigations we hope to understand the principles by which complex host-microbe systems functions and to learn how they can be manipulated to promote the health of systems like ourselves.

Research Interest

  Host-microbe interactions in development and disease