Jorn-Hendrik Weitkamp

New findings by Jörn-Hendrik Weitkamp and colleagues provide the first account of bacterial signatures in mammalian fetal intestinal tissue. The results suggest that bacterial DNA moves from the mother’s microbiome into the fetal intestine, which may be a critical stimulus for normal mucosal immune development. Read More

A multidisciplinary team of microbiome researchers at Vanderbilt University is shedding light on necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a disease of prematurity that kills hundreds of babies and costs the U.S. health care system an estimated $5 billion a year. Read More

Disruptions in immune system regulation may play a role in a deadly complication in premature infants. Read More

The Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Research Center celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a second five-year renewal of its federal research grant. Read More