Keio University Human Biology-Microbiome-Quantum Research Center (WPI-Bio2Q) held a seminar as follows.

Date：17:00 -18:00, October 6, 2026

Venue：1F Lounge, Center for Integrated Medical Research, Shinanomachi Campus, Keio University

Speaker：Chun-Jun Guo, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology ＆Immunology
Weill Cornell Medicine

Title：Using Genetics to Explore Microbe-Host Interactions at the Molecular Level

Abstruct：
The gut microbiota profoundly influences human physiology and disease through the production of diverse bioactive small molecules. However, the specific microbial pathways and molecular mechanisms that mediate these effects remain poorly defined. Elucidating these causal relationships is essential for developing strategies to monitor, predict, and therapeutically manipulate the microbiota to promote human health and treat disease. Here, we present our recent progress in developing genetic tools for non-model gut commensals and applying these toolsets to define how microbiota-encoded metabolic pathways and their metabolites regulate host immunity in cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. Together, these studies establish mechanistic links between microbial metabolism and host immune regulation and reveal new opportunities to leverage microbiota-derived metabolites as biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and adjuvants to improve the treatment of cancer and IBD.