The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) presents the Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series.

In his research, Dr. Chiu focuses on uncovering interactions between the nervous system, the immune system, and microbes, in health and disease. His ultimate goal is to leverage knowledge to develop novel treatment approaches for chronic pain and inflammatory diseases. Among his discoveries is that bacteria directly interact with sensory neurons to modulate pain, and neurons signal to the immune system to modulate bacterial survival and inflammation. Defining the ways that bacteria communicate with pain fibers, for example, could lead to new discoveries about the mechanisms at work in pain. Dr. Chiu will also discuss other aspects of bacterial interactions, such as how bacteria act on neurons to ensure their own survival and how neurons regulate microbes to protect their human host from invading pathogens.

Dr. Isaac Chiu is an assistant professor of immunology at Harvard Medical School. His NIH support includes an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award in 2016, by the NIH Common Fund and NCCIH, and grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Chiu received his Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard Medical School and completed postdoctoral work in Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and at Boston Children’s Hospital, studying transcriptome analysis of neuroinflammation, and the neurobiology of pain. His other awards include a Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and a Kaneb Award.

The human microbiome is the community of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi that naturally live in and on our bodies. These talks will focus on specific components of the gut microbiome and natural products of interest produced by these organisms that might confer health benefits. Natural products and their potential effects on health promotion and various clinical conditions are a priority research area for NCCIH.

For more information go to https://nccih.nih.gov/news/events/IMlectures