I have a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology and consider myself to be an advocate for tiny humans and tiny microbes alike! Despite their bad reputation, the vast majority of bacteria that we like to call ‘germs’ are non-pathogenic and likely even helpful. This especially includes the ones that colonize us as infants and create little communities on and inside our body. These bacteria belong to our ‘microbiota’, and they help infants develop into healthy children and adults. They make sure we get important nutrients from our food to help us grow. And they even train our immune system how to know which signals, or antigens, are harmful or not to prevent the development of asthma and allergies.
The best part of my job is working with studies like the CHILD study to shine a light on all the wonderful things that our microbiota does. The more that we know, the better we are at protecting these important bacteria in order to keep infants and children healthy. In my free time (what’s free time?!) I can be found chasing my two tiny humans around and playing in the garden.