Translational Microbiome & Immune Tolerance Labaratory

The Translational Microbiome & Immune Tolerance Laboratory is based at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and affiliated with the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation (CAMRI) at the Institute for Genome Sciences. Our lab sits at the intersection of microbiology, immunology, and computational biology — asking how the gut microbiome shapes immune tolerance across the lifespan. We combine high-throughput metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing, metabolomics, and multi-omic data integration with in vitro and in vivo experimental models to move from microbial community patterns to actionable immune mechanisms. Our research spans food allergy and oral immunotherapy, alpha-gal syndrome, HIV persistence in the gut, early-life diet and infant microbiome development, and atopic respiratory disease — united by a single question: how does what lives in the gut determine how the immune system responds to the world? We work closely with clinical cohorts and collaborators translating findings from the bench toward therapeutic and preventive strategies for patients.