Reproductive tract

The reproductive tract is a group of researchers studying the impact of the vaginal microbiome on women's health. The Vaginal Microbiome Consortium is a highly interdisciplinary team in which clinicians, microbiologists, computational biologists, bioinformaticists, statisticians, genomic scientists and human geneticists work collaboratively to analyze, interpret and publish our findings. Thousands of women have already contributed samples and information to the VMC. Our ongoing projects aim to understand the relationship between the composition of the vaginal microbiome and its association with women's health.

The VMC was first funded under the umbrella of the first phase of the NIH roadmap Human Microbiome Project and was the only group from the first phase to successfully transition to phase II of the NIH Human Microbiome Project. Funding has been prolific from NIH (NIAID, NICHD, ORWH, and NHGRI), NSF, the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Team members

Representative projects

Previous publications and funded grants include the following.

The Vaginal Human Microbiome Project

The Vaginal Human Microbiome Project at VCU was funded by phase I of the NIH Roadmap Human Microbiome Project with the goal of elucidating the roles of the women's urogenital conditions, physiological states, environmental factors and host genetic components in the structure and composition of the vaginal microbiome. More than 4,000 women from VCU’s women’s clinics and approximately 250 twin pairs from VCU’s MidAtlantic Twin Registry provided the more than 20,000 vaginal, buccal and perianal samples that were analyzed for microbiome profiles.

Our species-level analysis of the vaginal microbiome has revealed a diversity of microbial communities and interesting associations with physiological and infectious states. Additionally, we have characterized and compared the genomes of many previously unknown and uncharacterized species of importance to women's reproductive health. Our analysis of these rich data sets is ongoing.

The Multi-Omic Microbiome Study-Pregnancy Initiative

The Multi-Omic Microbiome Study, Pregnancy Initiative (MOMS-PI) is led by VCU with the contributions from the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) based at Seattle Children's. The team is committed to understanding the impact of the vaginal microbiome on pregnancy, pregnancy-related complications and the impact on neonatal health. Approximately 1,500 pregnant women were sampled longitudinally throughout pregnancy for buccal, vaginal, rectal, blood, skin, and nares. Buccal, rectal and stool samples were collected from neonates. Cord, cord blood, placenta and membranes were collected from each birth. The resulting ~200,000 samples are stored for continuous research in our RAMS Registry/Repository.

Our microbiome-focused analysis has generated 16S taxonomic, metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, immunoproteomic, proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic profiles from a large subset of these samples. Our results are supporting the conclusion that the vaginal microbiome has a strong impact on the outcomes of pregnancy and that certain profiles increase the risk of preterm birth.

The role of Sneathia vaginae in women’s reproductive health

Early in our studies of the vaginal microbiome, we identified a previously unidentified bacterium that was decreased in abundance in women who were pregnant. We originally named the bacterium Sneathia amnii, but subsequently changed its name to Sneathia vaginae. Further investigation showed that this bacterium was positively associated with women who would ultimately experience preterm birth. We were able to successfully culture this bacterium, isolated its DNA and completed its genome sequence. Analysis of the genome identified a putative toxin gene that was subsequently shown to lyse vaginal epithelial cells, suggesting its role as a pathogenic determinant associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Related studies

Related studies are focused on the virome of the female reproductive tract, the impact of contraception on the microbiome, the definition of the bacterial vaginosis microbiome, the relationship between the vaginal microbiome and women’s physiology, the impact of the vaginal microbiome on vaginal epithelial gene expression profiles, the role of the various microbiomes (vaginal, rectal, buccal, etc.) on the development of the neonatal microbiome, the role of the vaginal microbiome in cervical and endometrial carcinogenesis, the role of Gardnerella vaginalis in bacterial vaginosis and women’s reproductive health.