Dr. Lynch’s research program focuses on understanding the contribution of the human microbiota to chronic gastrointestinal and airway inflammatory disease pathogenesis. Specifically, her work focuses on the relationship between the gastrointestinal microbiome and host immune status and disease development. Her laboratory also studies the role of specific bacterial species in both microbiota manipulation and immunomodulation, particularly in the context of childhood asthma development and in immune priming at sites remote from the gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Lynch also works on the development of novel high-resolution microbial diagnostic tools to examine the diversity of organisms present in clinical samples. Dr. Lynch earned her PhD at the University College Dublin in Molecular Microbiology.