Microbial contributions to the host metabolome

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Project Summary This proposal contains a detailed five-year training program for the mentored career development of an emerging scientist focused on understanding microbe-host interactions and its influence on human disease. The applicant proposes a research program specifically constructed to enable transition towards an independent academic research career. Through the career and scientific plans outlined, the Applicant aims to leverage his prior training in technical mass spectrometry and microbiology with newly acquired skills in high throughput metabolomics, microbiome sequencing, large scale data bioinformatics and human diabetes biology within a structured and mentored scientific environment. A unique joint mentorship between Dr. Mohit Jain and Dr. Rob Knight at UC San Diego has been established to foster the Applicant's scientific and career development. Dr. Jain’s and Dr. Knight’s laboratories will provide an ideal environment for the Applicant, with state-of-the-art infrastructure, analytical skills, innumerable resources and rich scientific base required to obtain the necessary training. Additionally, both mentors have a proven track record of mentorship, including with young investigators transitioning to faculty positions and independent laboratories. Furthermore an expert academic advisory committee of distinguished scientists from the UC San Diego and external scientific community will add complementary scientific expertise in a spectrum of technical and scientific areas, while focused on the career development of the applicant. The applicant's central goal is (1) to systematically map the hundreds to thousands of gut microbial derived metabolites present in human circulation and (2) to determine the role of gut microbial derived metabolites in the development of human diabetes. Towards these goals, the Applicant propose to utilize state of the art mass spectrometry, microbiome sequencing and data informatics within the context of large scale population based studies encompassing thousands of individuals. Collectively, the experience gained from the proposed experiments, structured career development plan, enriched scientific environment, and unmatched mentor and advisory team will serve as the foundation for the applicant’s independent academic career.