Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center
2025 application dates: Pilot & feasibility and postdoctoral fellowship
The center provides an outstanding ecosystem in which to nurture the next generation of superstar microbiome researchers. We will begin accepting 2025 applications on the following dates: 1) Pilot and feasibility study awards on March 1; and 2) Postdoctoral fellowship on May 1.
Seminar series
Join us for this monthly seminar series where invited guest speakers, Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center faculty and UCLA trainees present their latest research findings and discuss evolving areas of interest in the many ways the microbiome interacts with human health.
Call for abstracts - Registration open!
Abstract submissions are now open for the 2nd Annual Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center Symposium. The symposium is free, but registration is required.
Latest news
Three center members named among the world's most influential researchers
The annual Highly Cited Researchers list compiled by Calivate identified Drs. Elaine Hsiao, Aldons J. "Jake" Lusis and Emeran A. Mayer as scholars who have authored multiple studies that rank in the top 1% in the number of scholarly citations worldwide.
$9.5M grant to study relationship between polyphenol intake, Alzheimer’s prevention & brain-gut-microbiome system
UCLA Health researchers, in collaboration with researchers from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, have received $9.5M award from the National Institutes of Health with support from European funding agencies — The Science Foundation Ireland and the Public Health Agency Health & Social Care — to study the effects of polyphenols on cognitive health and the brain-gut microbiome system.
Discrimination can cause changes in the gut microbiome
In a new study published in Frontiers in Microbiology, Drs. Arpana Church and Tien S. Dong have found that people who experienced discrimination had pro-inflammatory bacteria and gene activity in their gut microbiome that was different from those who did not experience discrimination.
Caregiving adversity leads to changes in the oral microbiome, stress markers
In a new study, led by Bridget L. Callaghan, PhD, UCLA Health researchers found that youth who experienced caregiving adversity, described as having been mistreated or in foster care, had less variety in their oral microbiome compared to youth who remained living with their biological families. The same group also had more disease-causing bacteria in their oral microbiome, and their microbiome seemed less reactive to recent stress.
Infants’ microbiomes shaped by physical contact with caregivers
A new study led by researchers at UCLA Health found that early life caregiving experiences including skin-to-skin contact at birth, number of individuals in physical contact with the infant at birth, and the amount of time infants were in physical contact with caregivers were significantly associated with the composition of the infant gut microbiome up to six months of age.
UCLA receives grant to study gut-brain signaling in youth with anxiety, depression
Bridget L. Callaghan, PhD, Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center member and assistant professor of psychology at UCLA, was awarded $3,891,851 from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the microbiota-gut-brain axis pathways associated with depression and anxiety in adversity-exposed adolescents.