Jobin Research Lab » Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition » College of Medicine

The Jobin Laboratory is interested in bacteria/host interactions and ensuring innate/immunological responses during health and diseases. The intestine poses an interesting conundrum – it must peacefully cohabit with a sea of microorganisms (~100 trillion) but swiftly respond to the presence of pathogenic microorganisms that threaten its integrity. A major clinical consequence of deregulated bacteria/host interaction in the intestine is the development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC).

Using mice and zebrafish housed in germ-free and gnotobiotic conditions, the Jobin’s laboratory studies the contribution of bacteria in protecting or exacerbating development of colitis and colorectal cancer using different techniques (next-generation sequencing, microbial gene mutations, microbial RNA-sequence, etc.). A number of questions are actively pursued by our laboratory, including:

Which microorganisms protect or promote intestinal pathologies?
What microbial-derived activities are responsible for these differential host responses?
How microorganisms biotransform dietary components to influence development of intestinal pathologies?
Which mechanisms are implicated in beneficial host-microorganism interaction and what disrupts this peaceful dialogue?
How microorganisms influence development of extra-intestinal cancer?
What is the relationship between microorganisms and host response to therapeutic intervention?