The Hall Lab’s research focus involves defining the complex interactions of the intestinal microbiota, particularly during the early life developmental window. The group is focused on how microbial communities and specific microbiota members (e.g. Bifidobacterium) interact with other microbes and the host including: (i) the impact of diet, (ii) how these microbes modulate critical infection (i.e. colonisation) resistance, and (iii) beneficially impact host responses, including immune regulation. Another key goal is to identify bifidobacterial communities and their components that can restore a disturbed early life microbiota back into one able to promote health. We utilise multi-disciplinary approaches to answer these key questions including; microbiology (in vitro model-colon chemostat systems for complex culturing, molecular microbiology), metabolomics (NMR, MS), next generation sequencing (RNASeq, 16S rRNA, WGS, both host and microbe), bioinformatics tools, in vivo models (germ-free and infection models) and human studies (preterm/term infants and adults).

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