Microbiome July 18 – 21, 2019 The inaugural international Microbiome conference at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will focus on latest research to understand the etiology and treatment of a wide-range of microbe-associated diseases, integrating the disciplines of clinical research, microbiology, immunology, bioinformatics and genomics. The coalescence of a wide variety of clinical disorders should promote new interdisciplinary interactions seldom achieved at other microbiome meetings. As well as bringing established leaders as speakers, this meeting will focus on young investigators and trainees to facilitate the scientific interactions necessary to grow this field and develop novel clinical and experimental approaches, diagnostics and therapies. The meeting will provide an in depth focus on both experimental and computational approaches that are being used to elucidate the mechanisms of inflammatory, immunologic and infectious diseases. We will also explore novel roles for the microbiome in drug response and action at a distance (e.g. gut-brain axis). Microbiome studies that are featured in the oral presentations will include bacterial, fungal and viral associated disease, including inter-domain interactions. Oral and poster sessions will focus on major themes of microbiome and the host response, including: microbial succession and stabilization, microbial interactions/colonization resistance, host-microbial interactions, antimicrobial resistance. The oral sessions will begin with 2-3 invited talks from established leaders in the field, followed by 4-6 shorter talks chosen from submitted abstracts. Broad themes for individual sessions include: 1) microbial community assembly from the domain to the strain level; 2) cutting-edge methods to explore microbial functions including metabolomics and proteomic studies; 3) host-microbial interactions in the context of health and diseases such as inflammatory disorders, infections exacerbated by antibiotic resistance and cancer microbiome; 4) synthetic biology and upcoming technologies to modify microbial communities. The inclusion of a poster sessions as well as the allotment of ample time for questions following each talk will encourage extensive discussion between the participants. The meeting will be small enough (200 - 300 scientists) to facilitate these interactions, yet large enough to allow for oral presentations from younger investigators and those with novel perspectives. The integration of a wide variety of aspects of microbiome research will nucleate new interdisciplinary interactions that will drive this innovative translational field. This meeting will be distinct in the opportunities for young investigators to present their work and the coalescence of computational, experimental and clinical disciplines.

Microbiome Conference July 18-21, 2019 PROJECT NARRATIVE Scientific studies have transformed our concept of microbes (bacteria, fungi, viruses, archaea). Whereas we used to conceive of most microbes as disease-causing enemies, we now understand that many microbes are beneficial and perhaps even fundamental in promoting health across a human's lifespan. A growing body of research seeks to uncover how microbes interact with each other in multispecies communities and cohabitate with their multicellular human hosts. If we better understand how microbial communities interact with human hosts, through modeling these interactions and dissecting the mechanisms at this interface, we will open the door to therapies that prevent or correct microbial community dysfunction to promote health and treat disease. One specific focus of microbiome research is to address the pressing issue of antimicrobial resistance for human health and the delivery of healthcare. The proposed Microbiome conference will focus on the latest approaches to study and treat the wide-range of microbial associated diseases, integrating the disciplines of clinical research, microbiology, immunology, bioinformatics and genomics. The integration of a wide variety of clinical disorders should promote new interdisciplinary interactions seldom achieved at other microbiome meetings. This meeting will have a specific focus on young investigators and trainees to facilitate the scientific interactions necessary to grow this field and develop novel clinical and experimental approaches, diagnostics and therapies.