November Bookends Lecture: "Look Where No One Is Looking"

"Look Where No One Is Looking"

Gut Fungi, a Happy Accident, and a Sabbatical of Going For It

Dr. Regina Lamendella, Valko Professor of Biological Sciences, Juniata College

Most gut microbiome research focuses on bacteria. My career has gone the other way, toward the rare and understudied members of microbial communities. This talk follows one of those stories. A student was analyzing gut samples and noticed something we weren't looking for: fungi were more diverse and more abundant in people with Clostridioides difficile infection. That accidental finding is now an NIH-funded project on how fungi and C. difficile interact. It also led to new USDA funding to study how diets rich in polyphenols reshape the bacteria and fungi of the human gut. I'll share where the science stands, along with the rest of the sabbatical: a lot of grant writing, publications with nineteen student co-authors, conference trips with students, and developing ideas for the future of Biology education at Juniata. I'll also talk about the personal side. I recommitted to my mental and physical health and learned that you don't have to wait for everything to fall into place before you go for it. That's true in the laboratory and outside it.