In this enlightening episode, we chat with Dr. Elinav about his fascinating research on the association of certain gut microbes with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and the potential use of phage therapy to combat these conditions.

Dr. Elinav's work focuses on a clade of Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) strains, found to be associated with the severity and exacerbation of IBD in four distinct geographical cohorts. These strains, unique in their antibiotics resistance and mobilome signature, were observed to enhance intestinal inflammation when transferred into colitis-prone, germ-free, and colonized mice.

Exploring the potential of phage therapy, Dr. Elinav and his team have designed a lytic five-phage combination that targets both sensitive and resistant members of the IBD-associated Kp clade, and effectively suppresses Kp in colitis-pr ...