Research Expertise and Interest

gut microbiota, metabolism, genomics, host-microbe interactions

Research Description

Ashley Wolf is an Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the School of Public Health with a joint appointment in the Center for Computational Biology. Her research focuses on the variation of gut microbiome composition across individuals and the roles of these complex microbial communities in mammalian health and disease.

The mammalian gut microbiota is a complex community of microbes shaped by diet, microbial competition and host factors. Sequencing surveys of human gut microbiota samples have shown the extreme diversity of these communities, as well as correlated aspects of the microbiota with a range of human conditions. Disruption to gut microbiota structure is linked to susceptibility to infectious and chronic diseases.

Microbiome research in the Wolf Lab encompasses two areas: bacterial metabolism of dietary ingredients and microbiota-mediated protection against infectious disease (including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Shigella). We combine human microbiome data, laboratory models, and computational analyses to ask questions about the role of diet, microbial competition, and host factors in gut microbiome structure and function.