Bineyam Taye, assistant professor of biology, and Ken Belanger, professor of biology, along with collaborators Julian Damashek (Utica College) and Zeleke Mekonnen (Jimma University, Ethiopia) have been awarded $149,000 for their project entitled "Understanding gut-microbiome interactions following mass deworming against soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) among young Ethiopian schoolchildren."
The project will study the microbial communities (microbiomes) present in the gastrointestinal tracts of Ethiopian children who are or are not infected with parasitic roundworms, and then examine the changes in the gut microbiome that occur upon treatment with anti-parasitic drugs. Ultimately, the goal is to understand how alterations in the gut microbiome in children impact other health and developmental outcomes.