GRAHAM · Concepts of Graph Theory Applied to the Human Microbiome
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-11-01 → 2020-12-01
- EU contribution
- €195,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Concepts of Graph Theory Applied to the Human Microbiome
The human microbiota - the bacteria, fungi, parasites, and small eukaryotes that live on and in the human body - play important roles in our health. Changes (or disruptions) to these communities have been linked with diseases that include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), obesity, and certain cancers. However, with the software tools currently available to microbiome researchers, its hard to pinpoint the specific changes (i.e. to a particular species, strain, gene, or even a mutation within a gene) that occur in these communities when we compare samples from healthy and diseased states. It is the goal of this Fellowship to develop, test, and use software to better allow for the elucidation of the changes to the microbial communities that drive these disease states. The goals of this Fellowship are important for society because they aim to directly affect human health in the longterm. By better understanding how human microbial communities are implicated in various disease states, we gain the potential to better treat these diseases. For example, if we better understand that a specific set of strains is missing from a microbial community, we could think about longterm strategies to replenish these strains using probiotics, dietary intervention, or pharmaceuticals. The overall objective is to better understand how the microbes that live on and in us interplay with the human body to drive disease, or as a consequence of various disorders.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Incidents of cancer, respiratory, and circulatory disease are the highest causes of death among members of the European Union (EU). Elements of these diseases have been linked to the human microbiota, the complex ecosystem of microorganisms which live on and in the human body. Understanding the disruptions to the human microbiota which cause disease is important in furthering our knowledge of these diseases. Although advances in sequencing technology have allowed the exploration of ""who"" is present in these communities, we still do not have a proper understanding of ""what"" is present in terms of genetic elements (genomes, operons, genes, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) due to a lack of computaional tools. In GRAHAM, I propose to apply network analysis to the study of disruptions to the human microbiota in order to develop tools and answer questions related to human health and disease.Under this research programme, I will model interactions between genetic elements in publicly available metagenomic datasets of the human microbiota using networks. My background in metagenomic sequencing technologies will be combined with the excellence of a research environment and supervisor rich in experience with applications of network analyses. Deliverables will include open-source software packages, and results of this research will be disseminated via publications, conferences, workshops, and public seminars.""
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM · NottinghamCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union