Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center
Accepting applications for Pilot and Feasibility Core Voucher Program
Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center (GLMC) early career investigators (ESI by NIH standards) with any microbiome-related proposal, or established GLMC investigators who want to pursue a new research direction (i.e. not previously funded) involving the microbiome and services from a GLMC core facility are invited to apply.
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.
Endowed fellowship in microbiome research
Lia Farahi, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Cardiology, was named the inaugural Goodman-Luskin Microbiome fellow.
Latest news
$9.5M grant to study relationship between polyphenol intake, Alzheimer’s prevention, and the 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. In this five-year study, investigators will explore the relationship between polyphenols, cognitive function, and brain health through four project aims in 50+ year old adults with enhanced risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
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 Health is the only institution awarded two NIH SCORE grants; both focus on the understudied area of sex differences
Science is still ignoring women's health, but UCLA Health researchers are fixing that. “Men and women could have different disease pathogenesis, different risk levels and different responses to treatments,” said Lin Chang, MD, co-principal investigator. “You really have to consider sex as a biological variable.”
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.
Your gut microbes may influence how you handle stress
A study published this month in Nature Mental Health, led by Arpana Church, PhD, and Tien S. Dong, MD, PhD, finds distinct biological signatures in the microbiomes of people who are highly resilient in the face of stressful events.
Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut - Now streaming on Netflix
Delve into the digestive system with this lighthearted and informative documentary that demystifies the role gut health plays in our overall well-being. Arpana Church, PhD, co-director of the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center, provides expert commentary in this Netflix documentary. Stream it today!