Dr. Ronholm’s research interests include using the latest next-generation sequencing techniques to study the microbiome of food-producing animals. Recent research has focused on understanding intestinal microbiome of humans, and correlations between intestinal microbial populations and various health outcomes have been observed. Less is known about the overall intestinal microbiome of ruminants, the effect of feed and husbandry on the ruminant microbiome, and if certain microbial populations are correlated with higher-quality and improved-safety animal food-products. It has been shown that several bacterial pathogens take advantage of gut disbiosis to proliferate and cause infection. Can healthy gut microbiomes be used to mitigate the effects of enteric infection or eliminate it all together? The long-term overarching goal of this research is to understand and harness the power of the ruminant microbiome to generate healthier cattle herds. Possible applied benefits of this research are: decreased use of agricultural antibiotics, lower rates of zoonosis, and safer, high-quality, natural food-products.
