# Project 3: Developing gut microbiome and vaccine response

> **NIH NIH P20** · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · 2020 · $187,385

## Abstract

PROJECT 3 ABSTRACT 
Diarrheal disease remains a leading cause of childhood illness and mortality worldwide and is especially life 
threatening in infants and children under 5 years when the immune system is developing. The gut microbiome 
begins its development during this same critical window, and its interaction with adaptive and innate immunity 
is required to achieve immune competence. Although vaccines have helped to reduce the population burden of 
gastrointestinal infections, the magnitude of individual-level protection conferred by immunization varies 
between children. This project seeks to test the hypothesis that the structure of bacterial communities residing 
in the gut may be an important – and potentially modifiable – factor influencing infants' abilities to mount a 
beneficial immune response to vaccines and disease risk. We will leverage data from the unique, prospective 
New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (2009 to present) that collects detailed epidemiological (e.g., gestational 
age, delivery mode, medical records, antibiotic exposures, infections), lifestyle (e.g., maternal diet, smoking, 
probiotic intake, infant feeding practices), and biospecimen (e.g., maternal peripheral blood, cord blood, stool 
samples) from maternal-child dyads recruited during pregnancy and followed through the early childhood 
period. The preliminary clinical endpoints to be investigated include infants' rotavirus mucosal antibody 
concentrations in stool samples and gastroenteritis occurrence during the first year of life. In Aim 1, we will 
examine the associations of putative disruptors of the early life microbiome assembly (i.e. cesarean deliveries, 
antibiotics, and formula feeding) and infant vaccine response and gastroenteritis risks. In Aim 2, we will 
compare how the community structure, alpha-diversity level, and relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa 
in the intestinal microbiome relate to infant vaccine response and gastroenteritis risks. In Aim 3, we will 
implement a novel approach for investigating the role of microbiome in mediating associations between 
perinatal and early postnatal exposures and infant's and mucosal antibody response and risk of gastroenteritis. 
Determining the role of the infant gut microbiome and the factors that influence the microbiome in 
immunogenic vaccine responses will help us to identify key elements of microbial colonization patterns in 
relationship to immune training in infants, as well as identify targets for interventions designed to promote 
vaccine effectiveness and reduce the burden of infant infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9843722
- **Project number:** 5P20GM104416-08
- **Recipient organization:** DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Bailey Brickley
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $187,385
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-02-01 → 2020-02-02

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9843722

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9843722, Project 3: Developing gut microbiome and vaccine response (5P20GM104416-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9843722. Licensed CC0.

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