A one-week treatment was enough to add protective bacteria to the vagina that stayed for months after therapy ended.

In a new PLOS Biology study, CAMRI researchers helped develop an ecological model showing that access to specific nutrients—rather than bacteria alone—drives whether the vaginal microbiome remains healthy or shifts into dysbiosis. By revealing why harmful microbial states can become stable and difficult to reverse, this work opens new paths toward durable, non-antibiotic strategies to improve women’s reproductive health.

In a new study led by CAMRI investigator Dr. Johanna Holm, researchers reveal that vaginal bacteria with similar taxonomic profiles can have profoundly different functional and immunological effects. By defining 25 distinct functional community types, this work lays the foundation for precision diagnostics and targeted interventions in women’s reproductive health.

Two linked studies from the NIH-funded TransBiota project reveal that genital microbiomes in transmasculine and transfeminine individuals di>er fundamentally from those of cisgender women. Together, the findings challenge long-standing assumptions about “optimal” microbiome states and underscore the need for evidence-based, gender-affirming clinical care.

In Nature Communications, we introduce VIRGO2, a next-generation gene catalog that dramatically expands our ability to study the function and ecology of the vaginal microbiome. This open resource enables more precise, mechanistic analyses of microbial communities that are central to women’s health.

In a new study published in the Journal of Law and the Biosciences, we examine whether current U.S. regulations adequately protect consumers using direct-to-consumer microbiome tests. Our findings highlight significant gaps in oversight and raise concerns about test validity, consumer harm, and the responsible translation of microbiome science into clinical and commercial practice.

After a successful launch at the Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meet-up in March, CAMRI is featured in UMB’s magazine Catalyst.