Julia Oh

Our research centers on understanding and manipulating the human microbiome, particularly in disease contexts, through cutting-edge computational, experimental, and engineering approaches.

First, we address challenges in metagenomic analysis by developing different tools to reconstruct the microbiome and infer function.

Second, we examine the microbiome's role in health and disease across diverse human ecosystems, including skin, respiratory, and gut microbiomes, using AI-driven methods to integrate multi'omics datasets to identify new microbial and host biomarkers. Additionally, we investigate host-microbiome interactions by phenotyping microbial strains to uncover disease-specific effects, utilizing 3D skin and respiratory organoid models to capture complex interactions and CRISPRi to probe strain-specific gene function. 

Third, we explore microbiome-based therapeutics by engineering microbes, especially targeting skin diseases.

Our major biological interest areas include: aging (skin and immune), skin disease, infectious disease (especially staphylococci), chronic inflammatory disease, skin cancer, respiratory infections, and others.