Wendy Sarah Garrett is an American microbiologist who is the Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. She holds a joint position in the Departments of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Wendy Sarah Garrett | |
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![]() Garrett speaks at the National Human Genome Research Institute in 2013 | |
Alma mater | Yale University |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Harvard University Medical School Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health |
Thesis | The regulation of endocytosis in developing dendritic cells (2001) |
Early life and education
editGarrett was a medical student at Yale University.[1] She remained there for her doctoral research, where she studied the regulation of endocytosis in the development of dendritic cells.[2] She was a Research Fellow the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard University Medical School.[citation needed]
Research and career
editGarrett investigates host-microbiota interactions in health and disease.[3] She is interested in the interplay between the gastrointestinal immune system and the gut microbiome, particularly in the context of inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.[4] She has shown that the gut microbiota influence both innate and adaptive immune populations, contributing to immune homeostasis and disease. She identified specific microbial species, pathways, and metabolites that impact health and disease states.[citation needed]
Garrett has investigated the microbes and immune cells that play a role in carcinogenesis and intestinal homeostasis. She has developed approaches that combine meta-omics, microbiology, cellular immunology, biochemistry, cell biology, and cancer biology. To uncover fundamental biological mechanisms and apply findings to precision medicine, Garrett combines mouse models, human specimens, and mammalian and bacterial cells, as well as in vivo and in vitro model systems.[citation needed]
Garrett has shown that Fusobacterium nucleatum, a microbe of the mouth, is abundant in colon tumors.[5][6] She believes that this could be an early indicator of carcinogenesis.[5]
In 2017, Garrett established a microbiome biobank at Harvard.[7] The biobank is the most comprehensive collection of specimens in the world, using samples of people from the Nurses' Health Study and other long-term cohort studies. In 2020 she was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, who awarded her the Marian W. Ropes, MD Award in 2023.[1]
Selected publications
edit- Patrick M. Smith; Michael R. Howitt; Nicolai Panikov; Monia Michaud; Carey Ann Gallini; Mohammad Bohlooly-Y; Jonathan N. Glickman; Wendy S. Garrett (2 August 2013). "The microbial metabolites, short-chain fatty acids, regulate colonic Treg cell homeostasis". Science. 341 (6145): 569–73. Bibcode:2013Sci...341..569S. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.1241165. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 3807819. PMID 23828891. Wikidata Q29616351.
- Michelle G Rooks; Wendy S Garrett (1 May 2016). "Gut microbiota, metabolites and host immunity". Nature Reviews Immunology. 16 (6): 341–352. doi:10.1038/NRI.2016.42. ISSN 1474-1733. PMC 5541232. PMID 27231050. Wikidata Q36031926.
- Nicola Segata; Jacques Izard; Levi Waldron; Dirk Gevers; Larisa Miropolsky; Wendy S Garrett; Curtis Huttenhower (24 June 2011). "Metagenomic biomarker discovery and explanation". Genome Biology. 12 (6): R60. doi:10.1186/GB-2011-12-6-R60. ISSN 1465-6906. PMC 3218848. PMID 21702898. Wikidata Q35557728.
References
edit- ^ a b "Wendy S. Garrett, MD '02, PhD '01 awarded ASCI Marian W. Ropes, MD Award". medicine.yale.edu. 2023-03-01. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ Garrett, Wendy Sarah (2001). The regulation of endocytosis in developing dendritic cells. search.worldcat.org (PhD thesis). Yale University. OCLC 81170771. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Wendy Garrett | Academic Profile". www.hsph.harvard.edu. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Researchers explore the link between the microbiome and public health". www.hsph.harvard.edu. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ a b Drexler, Madeline (2019-10-08). "The Cancer Miracle Isn't a Cure. It's Prevention". www.hsph.harvard.edu. Harvard Public Health Magazine. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Fusobacteria use a special sugar-binding protein to bind to colon tumors". www.hsph.harvard.edu. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ "Harvard Chan School awarded $4.9 million to create microbiome biobank". www.hsph.harvard.edu. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 2017-05-24. Retrieved 2024-07-21.