Washington University in St Louis · BiologyGut Microbiome Dynamics Lab
Gautam Dantas · Saint Louis, Missouri
Research Focus
Dr. Gautam Dantas's lab at Washington University focuses on understanding how bacteria and viruses interact with the human gut microbiome, particularly in the context of infections like Clostridioides difficile. Their research aims to explore how early life factors, like antibiotic use, shape gut health and disease in children. By studying these microbial dynamics, the lab hopes to develop new approaches to prevent and treat microbiome-related diseases.
Clostridioides difficilemicrobiomeantibiotic impactgut viromepediatric healthviral-bacterial interactionsgnotobiotic modelsprecision therapeuticspathogen-host dynamicsgut health
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate how genomic variations in Clostridioides difficile influence infection severity.
AIM 02Characterize the dynamics of viruses in the gut microbiome during disease states.
AIM 03Examine how early-life experiences like antibiotics affect microbiome development in children.
Skills the Lab Values
genomic sequencingmicrobiome analysisgnotobiotic mouse modelsPCRcell culturedata analysismetagenomicsviral tagging techniquesimmunological assayssample collection and processing
Output against the department
Publications261top 23% of dept.236th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations24ktop 16% of dept.167th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.