Section leader: Emily Wissel
Access to healthcare, including treatment and preventative care, is critical to moderate beneficial host-microbe interactions and mitigate host-pathogen interactions, yet healthcare is inequitably distributed and often curbed by social policy. For instance, maternity care is well-demonstrated to improve health outcomes and facilitate the transfer of beneficial maternal microbes to newborns. Policies which support breastfeeding likewise promote this transfer of maternal microbes. Similarly, newborns and infants with access to care in their first five years of life have better outcomes overall than those with limited access. This difference in care during early life can impact lifelong differences in outcomes, reinforcing inequalities present at birth. This session will cover topics from the vaginal microbiome during pregnancy to the infant gut microbiome after birth, with perspectives from a clinician, public health researchers, and a biological scientist.
Session Speakers:
Gaea Daniel, Postdoctoral Fellow at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University
Michael Kramer, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence at Emory University
“How Disparities in Access to Health Care Could Impact the Maternal-Infant Microbiome”
Sharon M Donovan, Professor, Director of the Personalized Nutrition Initiative, University of Illinois.
Prior to this session, you may want to watch these recorded talks:
- “Extended Health”, Dr. Joshua August (Gus) Skorburg, PhD. February 17, 2021.
- “The human microbiome and cancer risk: setting the stage for innovative studies to address cancer disparities”, Dr. D. Armen Byrd, MPH, PhD. February 24, 2021.
- “Embodied microbiomes: a 4E-cognition perspective on microbial life and social equity”, Dr. Francisco Parada Flores, PhD. March 24, 2021.
- “Social and ethical implications of human microbiome research.”, Dr. Kieran O’Doherty, PhD. April 7, 2021.
- “Investigating social determinates of health and social equity among Veterans; a United States-Veteran Microbiome Project”, LTC. Andrew J. Hoisington, Ph.D. April 14, 2021.
