The Microbiome in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases of the Airways

Emily Cope

Emily Cope of Northern Arizona University presents a talk on "The Microbiome in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases of the Airways."

Cope is an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University in the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute. Her research is focused on understanding the role of the airway microbiota in driving chronic airway inflammatory diseases including chronic rhinosinusitis, asthma and cystic fibrosis. Her main interest is studying the upper airway microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis, a substantial health problem leading to frequent physician visits that result in significant healthcare expenditures. Current estimates suggest that CRS is responsible for 5 percent of the total healthcare costs in the U.S. and affects up to 16 percent of the population.

CRS patients frequently present with pulmonary comorbidities suggesting that there are common underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms that contribute to upper and lower airway inflammation. Two examples of this connection, cystic fibrosis-CRS (CF-CRS) and asthma-CRS, provide an opportunity to further characterize the relationship between microbiota and immune responses across the upper and lower airways in both health and disease.

Disturbances in airway microbial ecology in CRS, CF and asthma will be discussed together with future strategies for probiotic manipulation of disease-associated microbial communities to restore airway health.

The Life Sciences Café seminar series. Light food and beverage provided.

Heather Bean
ASU School of Life Sciences
480-727-3395
heather.d.bean@asu.edu
https://sols.asu.edu/events
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Life Sciences Center C Wing, room 202, Tempe campus