Public Health Microbiome Curriculum: Looking Below the Tip of the Iceberg for Approaches to Population Health.

Sarah Turner, Carolina Tropini, Mark Nichter, Martin Blaser, Melissa K Melby, Meghan B Azad, Swapna Mylabathula, Naama Geva-Zatorsky, Melissa B Manus

Journal: Microbial biotechnology 2025;18(6):e70160

PMID: 40515726

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Abstract

We discuss the opportunity for public health microbiome curricula to bridge the gaps in knowledge that exist between microbiome researchers and the lay public. We propose equipping public health professionals, important facilitators of public outreach and behaviour change, with three public health curriculum modules focused on breastfeeding, antibiotics and diet. These modules shift the focus from microbes as pathogens to potential partners in promoting health across the life course. Current public health messages cover only the 'tip of the iceberg' in exploring mechanisms, and this microbiome curriculum dives below the surface to provide fresh perspectives. These microbiome insights allow us to move beyond a focus on microbes as pathogens to understand the numerous collaborative roles played by the microbiome in producing health, and the upstream factors influencing the microbiome, thereby offering mechanistic insights that can be harnessed for public health education.

Address: CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.; CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.; CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.; Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.; Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.; Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.; Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.; CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; Department of Cell Biology and Cancer Science, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Rappaport Technion Integrated Cancer Center (RTICC), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.; CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.; School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.; Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.; Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.; CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; Departments of Medicine and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine RBHS, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Rutgers, New Jersey, USA.; CIFAR Humans & the Microbiome Program, Toronto, Canada.; School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.70160

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Public Health, Microbiota, Curriculum, Population Health, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Breast Feeding