Center for Zoonoses Research at the University of Illinois
Veterinary Student Summer Training Program
2008 Mentor Profile
Brenda Wilson
Associate Professor,
Microbiology
Title
Project Description:
Humans and animals live in association with abundant, complex and dynamic microbial populations (microbiota) that colonize many body sites, including the vagina. Interactions between the host and its microbiota greatly affect female health, yet little is known about these interactions. Vaginal infections such as bacterial vaginosis and yeast vaginitis cause serious reproductive and pregnancy complications, including pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, spontaneous abortion, prenatal and postpartum infections affecting mother and baby, as well as increased susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as Chlamydia and HIV/SIV, and certain cancers such as cervical cancer. The overall goal of the research is to understand the role that normal microbiota play in vaginal health and disease, and in particular how the immune system, genetic makeup, and shifts in the composition and relative abundance of the vaginal microbiota influence resistance or susceptibility to infections. Understanding the vaginal microbiota and its dynamics, correlated with the genetic and demographic background of the host, could allow for prediction of which females (women or non-human primates) are at increased risk for acquiring vaginal infections, HIV/SIV and other STDs. Performing these studies in both humans and nonhuman primates will provide an evolutionary and comparative biological context for vaginal ecosystem diversity. We have established collaborations with Carle Hospital and National Primate Research Centers to obtain vaginal samples from both overtly healthy and symptomatic women and nonhuman primates (initially baboons). The goals of the research are to identify the microbial and immunologic components of the vagina and determine the population dynamics of the vaginal ecosystem and conditions under which they change (such as menstrual cycle, age, race/ethnicity). The research project a joint study by an interdisciplinary team of investigators from across the U of I campus, who have pooled their expertise, experience and resources to address this important, yet understudied problem with broad implications for biomedicine, comparative primate biology, and conservation biology. Current specific research projects include:
• Building microbial 16S rDNA libraries from human and baboon vaginal samples for cataloging the microbial content of the samples through phylogenomic analysis
• Defining microbial communities of human and baboon vaginal microbes using 16S rDNA profile comparisons
• Performing comparative phylogenomic analyses using bioinformatics