Skip to main content

FFMS: From Pixels to Phyllosphere and New Ways of Seeing Microbial Life

February 4, 2026
Join us on Friday, February 6, at 12 pm in Marsico Hall Room 7004 (or on Zoom) for our First Friday Microbiome Seminar. We’ll hear from Orlando Arguello-Miranda (NC State) on “Generative AI and Microbiome Imaging”, followed by two Trainee Microbiome Club talks on how immune regulation and metabolites shape...

Long Read Sequencing on the go!

December 19, 2025
The Microbiome Core was awarded CFAC Fall RFA 2025 funding to develop long-read sequencing capabilities within the Core. These funds will boost our efforts to introduce a new long-read sequencing service that supports advanced research needs.

β(1–4) GOS and Gut Health: Enhancing Intestinal Integrity

December 19, 2025
Yunan Hu, a PhD candidate in Dr. Azcarate-Peril’s laboratory, has recently published a manuscript in Food Bioscience demonstrating that the prebiotics β(1–4) GOS and humanized β(1–4) GOS strengthen intestinal barrier function. Using human primary colonic monolayers, the study shows that both compounds upregulate MUC2 and key tight-junction genes, thereby enhancing...

The 2025 Jim Brown Award!

December 19, 2025
Undergraduate researchers Nehal Devpura, Yoo Rim Lee, and Jin Ho Kim presented a poster at the North Carolina Branch–American Society for Microbiology (NC-ASM) conference highlighting their collaborative project, Prebiotic-Driven Dynamics of Lactobacillus Co-Cultures. The poster received the 2025 Jim Brown Award for Best Poster in recognition of this work.

Perspective: Has the two decades of research on the gut microbiome resulted in making healthier choices?

December 2, 2024
The gut microbiome is widely recognized for its significant contribution to maintaining human health across all life stages, from infancy to adulthood and beyond. This perspective article focuses on the impacts of well-supported microbiome research on global caesarean delivery rates, breastfeeding practices, and antimicrobial use. The article also explores the...