Microbes around us - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

As infectious diseases spread in a population, mutations are incorporated in pathogen genomes. Phylodynamic models allow us to extract this evidence of past transmissions and use it to reconstruct epidemiological dynamics. With decreasing costs, it can seem like genome sequencing data are becoming ubiquitous. Where we once had a scarcity of data, we now have a problem of plenty. But there are times, like the start of a new epidemic, when we have painfully little data to base our inferences on. I’ll use examples from the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate these problems and our solutions to them.

Following the gradual decline of the COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis (TB) is now again the number one cause of human death due to an infectious disease. In this presentation, I shall discuss the history of TB, including its origins, the current challenges we are facing when trying to control TB, and the particular threats posed by resistance to the most important anti-TB drugs. I shall conclude with an outlook on how the global TB epidemics are likely to evolve in the future and what is needed to conquer this ancient scourge of humankind.

Did you know that you are only half human? Trillions of microorganisms live inside your intestines where they help you digest the food you eat. However, our microscopic inhabitants contribute more to our health than digestion. The gut microbiota are also essential regulators of your immune system and your brain and can even regulate how you feel and behave. In this talk, Dr. Katie Guzzetta will break down the complexities of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, and how these tiny organisms might be used to improve how your brain ages.