Eran Elinav
Affiliations
Immunology department, Weizmann Institute of Science
Biography
Dr. Eran Elinav heads a research group in the Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science. His lab focuses on the interactions between the innate immune system and intestinal microbiota and their effects on health and disease, with the goal of personalizing medicine and nutrition.
Dr. Elinav completed his medical doctor’s (MD) degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hadassah Medical Center in 1999 summa cum laude, followed by a clinical internship, residency in internal medicine at Hadassah (2000-2004), and a clinical and research position at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Gastroenterology institute (2005-2009). He received a PhD in immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science (2009), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine (2009-2012). Dr. Elinav has published more than 70 publications in leading pear reviewed journals, and awarded for his research, including the Alon Foundation award (2013), and the Rappaport prize for biomedical research (2015).
Abstract
Host-microbiome interactions in health and disease
Eran Elinav, M.D., Ph.D
The mammalian intestine contains trillions of microbes, a community that is dominated by members of the domain Bacteria but also includes members of Archaea, Eukarya, and viruses. The vast repertoire of this microbiome functions in ways that benefit the host. The mucosal immune system co-evolves with the microbiota beginning at birth, acquiring the capacity to tolerate components of the community while maintaining the capacity to respond to invading pathogens.
The gut microbiota is shaped and regulated by multiple factors including our genomic composition, the local intestinal niche and multiple environmental factors including our nutritional repertoire and bio-geographical location. Moreover, it has been recently highlighted that dysregulation of these genetic or environmental factors leads to aberrant host-microbiome interactions, ultimately predisposing to pathologies ranging from chronic inflammation, obesity, the metabolic syndrome and even cancer.
We have identified various possible mechanisms participating in the reciprocal regulation between the host and the intestinal microbial ecosystem, and demonstrate that disruption of these factors, in mice and humans, lead to dysbiosis and susceptibility to common multi-factorial disease. Understanding the molecular basis of host-microbiome interactions may lead to development of new microbiome-targeting treatments.
