Postdoctoral Research Associate
Baylor College of Medicine
Michael Jochum is a postdoctoral research associate and bioinformatician in the Aagaard lab in the Department of Obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. The Aagaard lab research is actively engaged in studying the microbiome surrounding pregnancy, birth, and infancy through metagenomic sequencing in order to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). His specific research aims involved the bioinformatic analysis and data interpretation of the following projects:
• A longitudinal analysis of the restoration of the vaginal microbiome following surgical obstetrical fistula repair in a Malawan cohort
• The implications of DOHaD via Loss of hepatic Npas2 expression during fetal & neonatal development mediated alteration of the taxonomic and functional gut microbiome in a murine model
• A multi-omics approach to how the microbiome varies in association with risk of preterm birth (Bacteria and Birth Study; BaBs)
• A multi-omics analysis of a low abundance microbiome associated with human milk oligosaccharides identified in midgestational amniotic fluid.
Overall, the aforementioned research will help broaden our understanding how microbial ecology and the environment impacts reproductive medicine, which has a direct impact on improving the outcomes associated with maternity.