Host-microbe interactions in airway disease: Toward disease mechanisms and novel therapeutic strategies

Despite growing efforts to understand the role of the microbiota in airway disease, mechanisms that link microbial community dysbiosis to chronic inflammation remain elusive. Our laboratory is interested in how altered microbiota composition or function influences airway inflammatory diseases, including chronic rhinosinusitis, asthma, and cystic fibrosis. Given the tight interplay between host-associated microbes and host immunity, the potential for translational microbiome research to guide clinical decisions and novel therapeutics is becoming better appreciated. We hope to advance our understanding of the ecology of airway disease through integrating multiple omics assays and in vitro and in vivo experimental validation. An increased understanding of the role of the microbiota in chronic airway inflammation will ultimately lead to the rational development of therapeutics aimed at manipulation of microbiota composition or activity to treat these important and costly diseases. In this perspective, I discuss our current research investigating the microbiology and ecology of the airway microbiome.