1. The Microbiota in Health, Pregnancy, & Early Life
Dr Conor Feehily
Senior Post-doctoral Researcher
@sligomicrobe

2. Microbiome research in Cork
SFI Centre focussed on microbiome research
~300 researchers across Teagasc & UCC
Teagasc is the Agriculture and Food Development Authority
Research & Innovation
Farm advisory
Education

3. What is the microbiome
McHugh et. al 2018 AEM
Microbiome: The combined genetic material of microorganisms in a defined environment

4. The human microbiome Brain Eye Oral Breast milk Airway/ Lungs Skin
Placenta
Gut
Vagina

5. The microbiome boom
PubMed search “microbiome” in <Title/Abstract> November 2018
Microbiome: The combined genetic material of microorganisms in a defined environment

6. Sequencing based approaches to study microbes
Walsh et al Annu Rev Food Sci Technol 2017

7. Microbiota & Health Immune programming Pathogen defence/ competition
Provision of micronutrients/vitamins/short chain fatty acids
Bacterial vaginosis
Crohn’s & ulcerative colitis
Acne
Obesity & metabolic health
Mood & mental health
Cancer

8. Modulating our microbiota
Diet
Exercise
Bacteriophage
Probiotics
Antibiotics & pharmaceuticals
Prebiotics

9. Our journey together

10. Caesarean v Vaginal delivery
First contact
Before or during birth?
Feeding method
Ferretti et. al CHM
Caesarean v Vaginal delivery
Dominguez-Bello et. al PNAS
Cong X et. al. (2016) PLOS ONE

11. Microbe Mom
The most likely methods of transfer of bifidobacteria strains from mother to baby
The impact of the mother’s diet and health on her gut bacteria and what bacteria she transfers to her baby at birth
The impact of specific probiotic supplements on the mother’s health

12. Preterm birth & microbiota
Onset of labour before 37 weeks of gestation
1 in 10 pregnancies worldwide ~15 million PTB1
Leading cause of infant mortality under 5 years2
Estimated to cost US healthcare $26 billion3
No single etiological cause
1Blencowe H et al. Lancet 2012;379(9832):
2 Liu L et al. Lancet 2015;385(9966):
3 Frey HA & Klebanoff MA. Semin. Fetal Neonatal Med. 2016;21(2):68-73.

13. Vaginal mirobiome in preterm birth
To compare the vaginal microbiota of women at high risk of preterm birth with a low risk control group
37 women
11 women
FTB
8 women
29 women
PTB
RISK

14. Vaginal microbiome in preterm birth

15. A direct impact on perinatal care through a microbiota aided approach
Summary
Sequencing technologies have enabled the boom in microbiome studies
Our own microbiota is key to health
Pregnancy and birth is an important step in the development of this life long relationship
Microbe Mom will uncover the mechanisms bacterial transfer and the impact of diet
A direct impact on perinatal care through a microbiota aided approach

16. Acknowledgements Paul Cotter Elaine Lawton Calum Walsh Aoife McHugh
Fionnuala McAuliffe
David Crosby
Raul Cabrera Rubio
Shane Higgins
Grace O’Callaghan
Vision 1 lab
@sligomicrobe