As a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Jillian Banfield ‘s group at UC Berkeley and the Innovative Genomics Institute, Allison uses genome-resolved metagenomics to study the gut microbiome of preterm infants. Allison is interested in understanding how early-life exposures disrupt maternal vertical transmission of the microbiome and lead to short- and long-term health consequences. During her PhD in Dr. Gerry Wright's laboratory at McMaster University, Allison used a targeted sequencing approach to study antibiotic resistance in the human gut microbiome. She investigated the impact of probiotics on antibiotic resistance in the gut of preterm infants and the effect of azithromycin, an antibiotic, on the gut microbiome of children suffering from diarrhea in Botswana, Africa. In general, her expertise and interests related to using emerging next-generation sequencing technologies and analyses to understand how microbial communities evolve and empower scientific discoveries to improve human and global health.