Ran Blekhman, PhD

Associate Professor, Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago

“Genomics of Host-Microbiome Interactions”

Abstract

The Blekhman Lab studies host-microbiome interactions, focusing on understanding how human genes can control and interact with the microbiome. We use multi-omics genomic data and employ statistical, machine learning, and population genetic analytical approaches, with the goal of understanding how host genetic variation impacts commensal microbial communities, how the microbiome regulates host genes, and how host-microbiome crosstalk affects human health. In my talk, I will describe key recent studies from our lab, including efforts to quantify the heritability of the microbiome using large-scale longitudinal data, and characterize host gene-microbe interactions in multi-omics data using machine learning and functional genomics techniques.