My lab has been studying pathogenic bacteria and gastrointestinal biology since 1981 and the human microbiome since 2002. We conducted early 16S rRNA surveys of the esophagus, stomach, lung, and skin. Such studies helped establish the baseline present in health that then can be used to assess pathologic relationships. Nearly 20 years ago, we began to hypothesize that some of the diseases of modernization, including obesity, diabetes, malignancies, and immunologic disorders, were due to changes in the ancestral human microbiome. We have had especial emphasis on the role of the gastrointestinal tract microbiome in early life development, with consequences for how normal metabolism and immunity develop. Because of the widespread use of antibiotics, especially in young children, we have explored in animal models their role in perturbing the microbiome, and the downstream effects. More recently, we have been exploring microbiome changes that could be fueling the metabolic and inflammatory disease epidemics of obesity, IBD, asthma, allergies, type 1 diabetes, kidney stones, and particular cancers (including esophageal, gastric), respectively using mouse models to understand underlying mechanisms. We have used multi-“omic” approaches to address these questions. Specimens from mice of defined disease and control phenotypes permit linked analyses of tissue gene expression and gut metagenome with metabolic pathways to identify molecules that can be used for solutions to these problems.
Program Faculty
- Martin Blaser
- Professor
- Department: Department of Medicine
- Graduate Program(s): Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- Major Research Interest(s): Immunology, Metabolism / Nutrition, Microbiome, Neurological disease, Reproduction and Gametogenesis
- Research Techniques: Biochemistry, Bioinformatics / Computational, Cell culture, Genomics, Transcriptomics
- Research Organism(s): Bacteria, Cell lines, Humans, in vitro, Mice
- Phone: 1.9178341859
- Email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
- Center for Advanced Biotechnology & Medicine CABM, Room 106A
- 679 Hoes Lane West
- Piscataway, NJ 08854-8021
- Key Words: Human microbiome, early-life effects and mechanisms on disease development
- Lab Site URL
- News Items: “Microbial Noah’s Ark” Initiative Should Move to Next Phase, Study Finds, Antibiotic Exposure in Children Under Age 2 Associated with Chronic Conditions, Antibiotics in Early Life Could Affect Brain Development, Babies at Risk for Diabetes May Have Microbiota Restored, Black, Latinx People Confident in COVID-19 Safety Precautions but Skeptical About Vaccines, COVID-19 Testing Kits Also Can Measure Oral Microbiome in Saliva, Early Exposure to Antibiotics Can Cause Permanent Asthma and Allergies, Gut Check Time, Gut Microbes Disturbed by COVID-19 Infection, Especially with Antibiotics, Health Care Workers Most at Risk for COVID-19, How to Stop the Next Pandemic Before It Starts, Immune Response to COVID-19 May Be Proportional to Illness Severity, Duration, Inexpensive Saline Solution Can Improve Speed, Effectiveness of COVID-19 Testing, Infant Antibiotic Exposure Can Affect Future Immune Responses Toward Allergies, International Organization Honors Renowned Rutgers Microbiologist, Martin J. Blaser to Receive Robert Koch Gold Medal for Contribution to Medicine, Microorganisms in Tumors May Help Identify New Approaches for Treating Pancreatic Cancer, Rutgers Awarded $5 Million Grant from NIH to Improve Access to COVID-19 Testing within Underserved and Vulnerable Communities, Rutgers Microbiologists’ Research Subject of Feature-Length Documentary, Rutgers to Test Whether Probiotics Can Increase Immune Protection Against COVID-19, The Climate Change Within: Missing Microbes and the Evolution of the Microbiome, The Hidden Reason Children Born by C-Section Are More Likely to Develop Asthma, Why People Overuse Antibiotics