Read the UCSF press release here!
Over the past 15 years, scientists have gained a deeper understanding of how our health is connected to the microbes living in our gut and throughout our bodies. Now, thanks to a generous $25 million gift from Marc and Lynne Benioff, UCSF will establish the UCSF Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine. This new center will focus on predicting and developing next-generation therapies to treat diseases such as asthma, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, and obesity.
“This generous gift will accelerate the ability of our world-leading experts in the rapidly developing science of the human microbiome to develop a new generation of living cell therapies,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. “It’s an exciting opportunity to build on recent discoveries and combine clinical excellence across the university to advance human health.”
This generous gift will accelerate the ability of our world-leading experts in the rapidly developing science of the human microbiome to develop a new generation of living cell therapies.
UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood
What Is the Microbiome?
The microbiome is the community of microbes that live in and on the human body. These microbes play a crucial role in maintaining our health. However, imbalances in the microbiome have been linked to a wide range of diseases, including infections, chronic inflammation, and even neurological disorders.
A Watershed Moment in Human Biology
Susan Lynch, PhD, a UCSF professor of medicine, will lead the new UCSF Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine. “We now understand that our health depends not just on human genes, but also on the genes and products of the microbiome,” Lynch explained. “The exciting part is that these microbial populations can be changed, giving us an opportunity to improve health by re-engineering the microbiome.”
Collaborations with Stanford and Beyond
In addition to establishing the UCSF center, the Benioffs are donating $10 million to Stanford University to launch the Stanford Microbiome Therapies Initiative (MITI). This initiative will focus on developing and testing microbiome-based therapies using engineered microbial communities.
Goals of the UCSF Benioff Center
In its first five years, the center will focus on creating precision therapies to repair damaged microbial ecosystems. Researchers aim to boost specific microbial activities that promote health. Additionally, the center will explore how the microbiome affects early life, with the goal of preventing childhood diseases like asthma, allergies, skin conditions, and neurological disorders.
Faculty at UCSF have already demonstrated that the microbiome plays a key role in shaping human health. For example:
- Microbial dysfunction in the infant gut can predict the development of allergy and asthma in childhood.
- Imbalances in microbial ecosystems have been linked to linked to autoimmune disease, obesity, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.
- Contribution of gut microbes to metabolizing drugs and influence how much enters the circulation.
A Holistic Approach to Early Life
The UCSF Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine will collaborate with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and other institutions nationwide to study how microbes influence health during pregnancy, birth, and early childhood. These efforts aim to predict and prevent childhood diseases, such as gastrointestinal, respiratory, neurological, and skin disorders.
“At the same time that we are developing strategies to restore microbial ecosystems once they’ve been damaged,” Lynch said, “we need to find ways to intervene in early life to prevent chronic diseases before they start.”