MISSION

Despite their importance to life on Earth, we know very little about how microbes interact with each other, their hosts, or their environment.

The UCR Microbiome Initiative will help scholars and institutions (Colleges and Schools) to advance the science and bring greater understanding of useful applications in areas such as health care, agriculture, food production and environmental restoration.

VISION

Through its research and educational outreach, the UCR Microbiome Initiative is part of the National Microbiome Initiative which is advancing microbiome science in ways that will benefit individuals, communities and the planet.

The motivation for this initiative here at the University of California, Riverside is to catalyze and bring together UCR’s talent working on microbiome related research. There is a big effort at UCR on understanding microbiome, the interaction between microbial communities and a host (plant, insect, worm, mammals) and/or the environment.  UCR has ongoing programs and activities but faculty working on this topic are spread across many departments and colleges - College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), School of Medicine (SOM) and Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE).

The initiative goal is to facilitate integration, to help people find each other and collaborate, to better use and share resources among labs, enhance infrastructures and to create training activities for students.