Much of Dr. Julie Segre's early research career focused on how the largest organ of the human body - our skin, or epidermis - creates a barrier at the interface of the body and the environment. Through these early investigations, Dr. Segre's lab discovered that skin cells expressed high levels of antimicrobial peptides - which can both kill bacteria and fungi, but also stimulate the body's immune system. These observations led Dr. Segre to shift research efforts into identifying the microbes that live on the skin, and the role they may play in human health.

Dr. Segre is an active member of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) - launched by the National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research, and designed to fuel research into the multitude of microbes that live in the various environments of the human body.

With the microbiome project she has the opportunity to collaborate with physicians, microbiologists and laboratory scientists to look at the bacterial landscape of the human flora and ask; "What are the bacteria that live on our body and how do they contribute to our health and diesease state?"

This video offers a well rounded overview of the ideas behind the microbiome project in addition to some food for thought on the way our antiseptic, anti-bacterial, germ warfare lifestyle may impact our overall health.

Dr. Segre advises, "We don't know how that's going to change the bacteria that live on our skin and how that's affecting the good bacteria and the bad bacteria. And what we know is a whole history of when you wash your hands, you wash off all of the transient bacteria, but, you know, the bacteria that live on our body are not necessarily bad, and we should treat them with a little bit more respect."

Learn More at The Human Microbiome Project Website

More about Dr. Julie Segre