Seminar by Aurélie Crabbé — Thinking the Unthinkable: Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of the Microbiota in Chronic Lung Diseases

Aurelie is currently an Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University in Belgium.  Her research focuses on understanding how the host, microbiome, and their interactions influence antimicrobial agent efficacy and inflammation in chronic lung infections (especially Cystic Fibrosis) with the goal of enabling novel therapeutic approaches.

"Thinking the Unthinkable: Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of the Microbiota in Chronic Lung Diseases"

The lungs of patients with chronic lung diseases, CLD, are colonized by a large collection of microorganisms, termed the lung microbiota. While only a handful of bacterial species are recognized as clinically meaningful in CLD, the role of other members of the microbiota remains poorly understood. Our research is directed toward understanding the role of microbial communities and of individual members within these communities in the lung disease process. In this presentation, I will address how host-microbiome interactions could influence host inflammation, focusing on potentially beneficial interactions that could form the basis for the development of novel therapeutics.