Raghuveer Parthasarathy, PhD

“Each of us is home to a vast community of gut microbes that influence many aspects of health and disease,” Parthasarathy said. “We’re realizing that the physical properties of these communities – how they move, come together, and fall apart – are importa

“Our findings,” Parthasarathy said, “suggest that because of the physical activity of the intestine, contamination by antibiotics induces much larger changes to the gut microbiome than one would suspect from simply studying bacteria alone. In a sense, the

“Knowing the strategies by which the bacterium is able to invade the intestine can open doors to therapies that might disrupt these paths,” Parthasarathy said.

“Each of our bodies is a home for trillions of microbes, whose roles in health and disease are just beginning to be understood,” said Parthasarathy, the Alec and Kay Keith Professor in Physics. He uses cutting-edge microscopy techniques to explore the eco