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Humans & the Microbiome

Humans & the Microbiome: Educational Modules for Public Health Professionals

By: Meghan Azad, Naama Geva-Zatorsky, Melissa Melby and Carolina Tropini
10 Apr, 2025
April 10, 2025
Graphic of a hand holding a petri dish

The human microbiome (microbes living in and on us, and their genomes) is a critical yet often overlooked factor influencing public health.

Public health has mostly focused on microbes as pathogens causing infectious disease, but recent science has discovered numerous microbes that are beneficial or even essential to human health. Yet policies and behaviors do not yet reflect this understanding.

To address this, CIFAR’s Humans & the Microbiome program has developed a flexible curriculum for public health educators. Featuring modular slide decks on diet, breastfeeding and antibiotic use, the curriculum allows instructors to integrate microbiome science into existing public health courses with minimal adjustments. Each module includes core content, speaker notes and optional in-depth sections.

The Public Health Microbiome Curriculum, successfully piloted in classrooms across North America, is an open and accessible tool for enhancing microbiome education in public health.

The Modules

The Breastfeeding module examines breastmilk’s essential role in infant health, providing nutrition and immune protection, as well as seeding and feeding a healthy microbiome in babies, influencing long-term health development.

Download the module

The Diet module explores how dietary choices shape the microbiome and influence health outcomes. It equips educators to take a holistic approach, linking diet, microbiome composition, and human health, to foster a deeper understanding of nutrition’s impact.

Download the module

The Antibiotics module highlights antibiotics’ effects on antibiotic resistance within the framework of stewardship, and microbiome imbalance, increasing the risk of infection and chronic diseases. It helps educators promote responsible prescribing, considering both human and environmental health. 

Download the module

The modules are currently available only in English. 

Do you have suggestions for how these curriculum modules could be improved to better support your teachings? Would you like to see curriculum materials on other topics related to the microbiome? Please fill out this survey to let us know.

The Humans & the Microbiome program regularly updates these curriculum modules and may introduce new ones over time. To stay informed about updates, join our listserv by emailing researchadmin@cifar.ca with your name, institution, and email address.

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