Urology Frontiers: Urobiome Update, What's growing on in the Urine?

Urobiome Update: What's growing on in the Urine?

Event Overview

The March 2021 VUMC Urology Frontiers presentation on “Urobiome Update: What’s Growing on in the Urine” featured several Department of Urology Faculty from the division of Reconstructive Urology and Pelvic Medicine and Pediatric Urology discussing recent advances in the field of urinary microbiome research and new initiatives at VUMC.  The session featured talks by W. Stuart Reynolds, MD, Douglas Clayton, MD, Maria Hadjifrangiskou, PhD, and Melissa Kaufman, MD, PhD.  

Dr. Reynolds led with an overview of the current state of urinary microbiome research in adult urology, including introductions to the state-of-the-art techniques for isolating, identifying, and interpreting microbiome research.  Dr. Clayton provided an overview of microbiome research in the field of pediatric urology as well as highlighted ongoing research initiatives at VUMC involving microbiome analyses in recurrent urinary tract infections in children with spina bifida in collaboration with Vanderbilt Urologic Infection Repository (VUIR).  Dr. Hadjifrangiskou then gave a keynote talk on her ongoing research investigating Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) and asymptomatic bacteriuria in human urine samples collected, stored, and analyzed in the new VUMC Center for Personalized Microbiology (CPMi).  New findings included the identification of distinct genomic and metagenomic signatures of E. Coli related to hypoxanthine metabolism that can distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic strains.  She also provided an overview the CPMi, which includes microbial biobanks (MicroVU / VUIR) that store microbial isolates/microbiomes and are connected to Vanderbilt’s de-identified mirror of electronic health records (Synthetic Derivative).  Lastly, Dr. Kaufman led a discussion that focused on the clinical applicability of microbiome research and the potential of the institutional resources highlighted to advance the field of microbiome research. 

Speakers and Bios

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