Ilana Lauren Brito, Cornell University
Assistant Professor
Ithaca, New York
ilb8@cornell.edu
Office:
(607) 254-2938
Expert In
Bio/Research
Daily exposures to microbes from people we interact with and our environments may impact the composition and function of our microbiomes in profound ways. Most notable is the colonization of bacterial pathogens, but other subtle, yet important, changes may also affect human health, in terms of ou...
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Bio/Research
Daily exposures to microbes from people we interact with and our environments may impact the composition and function of our microbiomes in profound ways. Most notable is the colonization of bacterial pathogens, but other subtle, yet important, changes may also affect human health, in terms of our physiological development, access to metabolites, and the antibiotic resistance genes each of us carry. Professor Brito aims to answer fundamental questions about the transmission of bacterial members of the human microbiome: to what extent is the microbiome or the genetic contents of the microbiome transmissible? What factors drive transmission of microbiome components? What are the consequences of this transmission? Professor Brito wants to use microbial transmission and horizontal gene transfer studies to engineer microbial therapeutics or deliver genetic cassettes to the microbiome to enhance human health. Her lab uses a wide variety of sample types and methodologies to target these questions from different perspectives. Professor Brito has ongoing collaborations at Weill Medical School. She also has ongoing projects in the developing world to study how differences in the microbiome in contribute to health in resource-poor settings.
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