Overview of the Microbiome Among Nurses study (Micro-N) as an example of prospective characterization of the microbiome within cohort studies.

Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Infection and Immunity Theme, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Food Science and Technology Department, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA. Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Department of Public Health, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA. Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Molecular Metabolism, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. mingyangsong@mail.harvard.edu. Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. mingyangsong@mail.harvard.edu. Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. mingyangsong@mail.harvard.edu. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. mingyangsong@mail.harvard.edu. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. mingyangsong@mail.harvard.edu.

Nature protocols. 2021;(6):2724-2731

Abstract

A lack of prospective studies has been a major barrier for assessing the role of the microbiome in human health and disease on a population-wide scale. To address this significant knowledge gap, we have launched a large-scale collection targeting fecal and oral microbiome specimens from 20,000 women within the Nurses' Health Study II cohort (the Microbiome Among Nurses study, or Micro-N). Leveraging the rich epidemiologic data that have been repeatedly collected from this cohort since 1989; the established biorepository of archived blood, urine, buccal cell, and tumor tissue specimens; the available genetic and biomarker data; the cohort's ongoing follow-up; and the BIOM-Mass microbiome research platform, Micro-N furnishes unparalleled resources for future prospective studies to interrogate the interplay between host, environmental factors, and the microbiome in human health. These prospectively collected materials will provide much-needed evidence to infer causality in microbiome-associated outcomes, paving the way toward development of microbiota-targeted modulators, preventives, diagnostics and therapeutics. Here, we describe a generalizable, scalable and cost-effective platform used for stool and oral microbiome specimen and metadata collection in the Micro-N study as an example of how prospective studies of the microbiome may be carried out.

Methodological quality

Publication Type : Review

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