The Microbes and Social Equity working group, and The University of Maine Institute of Medicine present a virtual symposium on:

Summary

To understand a microbiome, you must learn about the bustling community of microorganisms and the complex ecosystems they live in, because one cannot exist without the other. So, too, does microbiome research rely on understanding the lives and ecology of humans, because there is no aspect of human life which does not involve microbes in some way. To become better microbiome researchers, we must understand social and environmental contexts which affect humans and, in many cases, prevent them from making choices which result in beneficial microbial exposures.

This symposium will focus on developing research skills to create transformative research, including context-aware experimental designs, engaging community stakeholders as research partners, writing transdisciplinary papers, translating research into policy, and creating curriculum which melds microbes and social equity.  

Meeting dynamics

This meeting will present some plenary-style talks by experts in the field, including biological scientists, social scientists, practitioners or policy makers, as well as facilitate discussion among participants. Each thematic section will feature 90 minutes of talks, which will be recorded and made publicly available after the live session.  After each plenary session, there will be 90 minutes of discussion in groups led by speakers and MSE group members, and assisted by notetakers, with ~10 participants per breakout room. Participants will be encouraged to collaborative develop skills for creating experimental design, interdisciplinary research or policy writing, creating community-based research, and pedagogy or lesson plans.  The goal is to create draft documents that are meaningful for group participants, which can lead to additional outputs or action.

If you would like to prepare for these conversations ahead of time, links to previous talks can be found in each section below, or you can read the latest articles from MSE members in the mSystems Special Series: Social Equity and Disparities in Microbial Exposure.

Program

Scope: Microbiome research often uses broad categorical factors as proxy factors for complex social or environmental contexts, but these can ignore or obscure underlying trends. This session will unpack proxy terms like race, Western diet, dysbiosis, rural/urban, and more, to differentiate what variables we actually want to measure and how to accomplish this in data collection and analysis. This session will also discuss how to communicate microbiome results in relation to broader contexts of lived experiences, rather than attributing results to broad proxy categories.

Learning Objectives of Session: Attendees will learn 1) the process of identifying more precise and appropriate measurement variables when engaging in human-adjacent microbiome research, instead of using proxy factors, 2) how to include more resolution to factorial data during collection, and 3) examples of how to process complex social data during microbiome data analysis.

Format of talks: Three 30-min lecture-style talks will disambiguate proxy categorizations into more precise variables that consider social contexts, approach to course, lessons learned/challenges.

Format of breakout rooms: Each room creates a concept map which disambiguates a proxy category into specific variables, and/or discusses how to frame survey questions or leverage existing data to obtain this information. Each room has a designated topic area (e.g. environmental restoration) to help audience members group by discipline or type of information they are looking for.

Session Speakers:

Scope: Microbiomes drive processes in all environments and are intimately intertwined with all aspects of our lives. Despite the central role of microbes in shaping systems, microbial researchers are often detached from shaping policies related to conservation, public health, land use, environmental justice, climate and other areas of intersection. Policy engagement is not typically included in the academic training of microbiome researchers, and there is a need for greater coordination between policy needs and microbial research. This session will explore integrated, collaborative approaches to research and policy making.

Learning Objectives of Session: Attendees will discuss 1) how to develop research in collaboration with policy needs, 2) policy levels and types (government, private), 3) how to identify stakeholders, and 4) how to communicate your research to policymakers.

Format of talks:  Three 30-min lecture-style talks will describe interdisciplinary research outcomes which transcend typical academic endpoints and engage in shaping policy.

Format of breakout rooms: Each room will create a policy brief outline or ideas list around a particular topic area (e.g. environmental restoration) to help audience members group by discipline.

Session Speakers: In development, details provided soon!

12:30 – 14:15 Introduction and Speakers

14:15 – 14:30 Break

14:30 – 16:00 Breakout room discussions based on skills development, in smaller groups

• How to talk to your politicians about science
• How scientists get involved with policy
• Curriculum for science policy
• Environmental microbial policy issues
• Microbial conservation
• Soil carbon & climate justice issues
• Agricultural antibiotic use
• Microbial exposures (residential, worker exposure)

Prior to this session, you may want to watch these recorded talks:

• “The Human Microbiome and Health Inequities”. Dr. Katherine (Katie) Amato, PhD.  
• “Decomposition as Life Politics”. Dr. Kristina Lyons, PhD.
• “Microbiomes and climate change at the intersection of human and ecosystem health in the North”. Dr. Catherine Girard, PhD. 
• “Connecting environmental microbiomes to social (in)equity across temporal and ecological scales”. Dr. Erin Eggleston, PhD and Dr. Mallory Choudoir, PhD.

---

Session 4: “Community engagement and collaboration”

Thursday, July 21st, 12:30 ~ 16:00 EST. This session has passed, watch the recorded talks.

Session leaders:

Scope: Due to the interconnectedness of microbial processes and social justice, many types of microbial research could benefit from closer collaborations with communities impacted directly by the public health, environmental and climate justice implications of microbiomes. Some styles of microbiome research would yield more positive outcomes if the collaboration was built around mutual long-term goals, instead of specific projects, and if it was initiated during project conceptualization instead of after the project has been designed. This session will explore different styles of interdisciplinary collaborations centered on community needs, such as community advisory boards, community partnerships, community-led research design, and how to implement this into microbiome research.

Learning Objective of Session: Attendees will learn 1) approaches to community-centered collaborations, 2) how to leverage community professionals (e.g. health workers) in a ‘train the trainer model’, 3) how to start ethical conversations around environmental samples & broader experimental design, and 4) how to emphasize collaborations – including public health, government, policy makers, etc. as a collaborator and how to ask for their help/mindful collaborations.

Format of talks: Three 30-min lecture-style talks from researchers who have successfully built research collaborations with communities.

Format of breakout rooms: Each room creates a plan for engagement, and each room has a designated topic area (e.g. environmental restoration) to help audience members group by research discipline.

Session Speakers:

12:30 – 14:15 Introduction and Speakers

14:15 – 14:30 Break

14:30 – 15:00 Fourth speaker

15:00 -16:00 Breakout room discussions based on skills development, in smaller groups

• Community-based participatory research (CBPR) & Scientific Community Engagement
• Designing multi-modal programming to support equitable community engagement
• Best engagement practices (and things to avoid)
• Community driven epidemiology
• Agricultural community engagement
• Finding a community to engage

Prior to this session, you may want to watch these recorded talks:

• “An Indigenous Micro- to Meta-Narrative: Microbes and Social Equity”. Dr. Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH. 
• “The Global Microbiome: microbes and public health beyond biology”. Dr. Amber Benezra, PhD. 
• “Social and ethical implications of human microbiome research”. Dr. Kieran O’Doherty, PhD. 
• “Investigating social determinants of health and social equity among Veterans; a United States-Veteran Microbiome Project”. LTC. Andrew J. Hoisington, Ph.D. 
• “Risk factors for colonization with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Guatemala and East Africa”. Dr. Douglas Call, PhD.

---

Scope: Curriculum which blends disciplines is highly engaging, and can be used to teach complex concepts, and can help students combine their existing cultural and social identities with their growing researcher identity. However, creating an interdisciplinary curriculum can be challenging. This session frames educational conversations in MSE, and gives perspectives on creating courses that blend microbiome and social sciences for different levels of education.

Learning Objectives of Session: Attendees will 1) identify successes and barriers to entry for MSE curriculum at different education levels (K-12, UG, grad, general public), 2) Share ways in which we incorporate MSE in our curricula (i.e. assignments, class period, multi-day module, full course, etc.); 3) develop ideas for further curriculum design for their own courses.

Format of talks: Three 30-min lecture-style talks from education practitioners who have successfully built courses around MSE topics, including an outline of learning goals, approach to course, lessons learned/challenges, and more.

Format of breakout rooms: Each room creates a lesson plan outline, and each room has a designated topic area (e.g. human microbiome equity) to help audience members group by teaching discipline.

Session Speakers:

12:30 – 14:15 Introduction and Speakers

14:15 – 14:30 Break

14:30 – 16:00 Breakout room discussions based on skills development, in smaller groups

• Undergraduate microbiology courses resources/MSE integration
• Pedagogy as scholarship/publishing mechanisms/resources
• Assessing case study style teaching

Prior to this session, you may want to watch these recorded talks:

• “Teaching with microbes: Biopolitical lessons from fermentation”. Dr. Megan Carney, PhD.
• “Missing Microbes and Missing Out: microbes and social equity in the context of youth in detention”.  Drs. Ally Hunter, PhD. and Christina Bosch, M.A., M.Ed., PhD.
• “Analyzing and harnessing microbiomes from Soil to Society: Towards sustainable and equitable agricultural systems“. Dr. Frank Carbonero, PhD.
• “Intimate Exchange and Queer Ecologies”. Dr. Gabriel N. Rosenberg, PhD.

---

Planning committee:

• Sue Ishaq (Lead Organizer), Kieran O’Doherty, Mallory Choudoir, Emily Wissel, Erin Eggleston, Katherine Maki, Mustafa Saifuddin, Ashley Toney, Patrick Horve, Amali Stephens, Monica Trujillo
• Organizing administrative support: Cecile Ferguson, UMaine Institute of Medicine