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This webinar was presented live on April 21, 2022.

It is well-established that the gut microbiota plays a role in regulating the immune system, including modifying the response to viral infections. In fact, research indicates that the severity of COVID-19 is related in part to the composition of the gut microbiota. A microbiota configuration characterized by increased pathobionts and reduced immunoregulatory microbes was associated with poorer outcomes following infection. How can diet and nutrition support the microbiota-dependent immunoregulatory functions? What do we really know today, and what is under investigation? In this webinar, Prof. Liam O'Mahony of APC Microbiome Ireland provides an updated review of these relationships and what is ready for prime-time (or not!) in the patient and client nutrition counseling sphere.

CPEU: 1.0
CPE Level: 2
Performance Indicators: 6.2.3, 8.1.1, 8.2.1

Learning Objectives

1. Describe the state of the science related to how various characteristics of the gut microbiome impact outcomes of COVID-19.
2. Describe the elements of diet that can support immune responses mediated through the gut microbiome and the strength of the evidence for these relationships.

Speaker

Liam O'Mahony, PhD, APC Microbiome Ireland

Prof. Liam O'Mahony received his BSc in Microbiology from University College Cork, Ireland in 1994 and his PhD in Immunology was awarded in 1998 by Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Thereafter, Dr. O'Mahony performed post-doctoral research at the Department of Microbiology, University College Cork, Department of Medicine, University College Cork and the Digestive Diseases Division, UCLA. Dr. O'Mahony was a Principal Investigator at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, University College Cork, from 2003 to 2008. From 2009 to 2018, he was head of Molecular Immunology at the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research, University of Zürich, Switzerland. He is currently the Prof. of Immunology at the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, APC Microbiome Ireland, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland. He is also currently an EAACI executive committee member and is an Allergy associate editor. His research interests are focused on the molecular basis for microbe and metabolite modulation of mucosal inflammatory responses. In particular, Prof. O'Mahony is investigating the basic mechanisms by which microbes influence allergic sensitization within the gut, skin and lungs.