Despite the enormous interest in the commensal gut microbiome, surprisingly few studies have followed the effects of antibiotics on the commensal microbiome. Moreover, little is known about the extent to which antibiotic sensitivity or resistance is affected by interaction with the human host and other factors, including diet.

In this project, we will characterize the effects of an antibiotic regimen commonly used in Singaporean clinical practice on the microbiome. Antibiotic effects will be tracked in vivo in a small cohort of human patients, ex vivo in fecal material collected from those patients prior to antibiotic treatment, and in ex vivo assays combined with a variety of dietary substrates.