Early life is a critical time window during which the maturation of the immune system is intricately coupled with the development of the gut microbiome. As the site of nutrient absorption and immune cell activation, the inflammatory state and the availability of beneficial bacteria have a long-term impact on how the immune cells will react to stimuli from food and the environment in later life. The overarching goal for my laboratory is to investigate how the gut microenvironment (due to maternal influence, genetics and dietary changes) in early life facilitates immune cell development, and to harness the knowledge of gut microbiome-immune cell crosstalk to understand the pathogenesis of diseases that develop in childhood, with the goal to develop therapeutics to improve children’s health.

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Ongoing projects in the Zeng Lab include -

  1. Exploring the role of gut microbiota-induced IgG in neonatal immune regulation and immunity against pathogens.

  2. Harnessing gut bacteria to reduce the risk of autism in infants.

  3. Investigating the role of infant gut microbiome in gut-lung axis and viral infection using our established human infant stool biobank.

  4. Interrogating the role of neonatal gut metabolites in immune development in early life

  5. Investigating the roles of gut microbiome and diet in cancer progression and metastasis.