ICU Microbiome
Leaders
Bryan McVerry, MD
Georgios Kitsios, MD
About this Program
In the ICU microbiome program, we are interested in identifying changes in the composition and function of the microbial communities in critically-ill patients and understanding the consequences of dysbiosis on the evolution and outcome of critical-illness.
Our focus is on common and serious conditions affecting patients in general ICUs, such as sepsis and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Our overarching goal is to identify discriminating features of the host microbiome and its function associated with worse clinical outcomes, evaluate the impact of critical care interventions on the microbiome, and explore the utility of culture-independent approaches for more accurate and timely diagnosis of infections in the ICU. Initial studies include the characterization of the microbiome of different body sites (e.g. respiratory tract, mouth and stool) from critically-ill patients from in the UPMC Presbyterian medical ICU and obtain samples over the first 10 days of ICU stay.
