A Vanderbilt research team has received a $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to understand how alcohol’s effect on the gut microbiome drives heart disease.

The invading pathogen Salmonella, a common cause of food poisoning, can change its metabolism to overcome host resistance to its colonization.

Studies in three large population cohorts that include Asian, African American and European American people support a role for the oral microbiota — the collection of microbial species in the mouth — in gastric cancer development.

A metatranscriptomics method developed by Vanderbilt researchers simultaneously characterizes viruses, microbiome and host response in nasal swabs, opening opportunities to explore molecular interactions directly in clinical samples.

A high-fat diet disrupts the biology of the gut’s inner lining and its microbial communities — and promotes the production of a metabolite that may contribute to heart disease, according to a study published Aug. 13 in the journal Science.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded Vanderbilt University Medical Center a two-year, $3.7-million contract to determine genetic and bacterial factors that may increase the risk for severe illness and death from COVID-19.

A probiotic factor given early in life to mice prevented intestinal inflammation in adulthood, providing a rationale for probiotic intervention in individuals at high risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.