Research Focus

Dr. Erdman explores the scientific underpinnings of human health, resiliency, inspiration, and insight. With its roots in the science of the gut-brain axis and mechanistic pathways of diet, microbes, neural networks, and social wellness, she applies basic research to uncover simple interventions that can alter the trajectory of human health and social achievement.  

Key Scientific Contributions

  • Host Immune Cells Prevent Development of Inflammatory Disorders Including Cancer. Dr. Erdman was the first to show that interactions between the gut microbiota and CD4+ T cells control GI tract homeostasis, and that resulting immune modulation impacts cancer incidence. In particular, using immune cell transfer models, she has specifically demonstrated that CD4+ T cells inhibit colon cancer. She subsequently built upon these original studies to show that animal host activities depend on interactions between gut microbes and innate immunity. As a Principal Research Scientist, she conceived of this research and performed all aspects of the animal model work. Furthermore, with support from independent R01 grant funding, Dr. Erdman did research that enabled the development of preclinical models that solidified proposed interconnections between microbiota and immune cells in systemic diseases, including various types of cancer throughout the body. Her fundamental studies using a Rag-deficient mouse model have spurred many laboratories to leverage this mouse mode for studies of GI tract perturbations.   
  • a) Erdman SE, Rao VP, Poutahidis T, Ihrig MM, Ge Z, Feng Y, Tomczak M, Rogers AB, Horwitz BH, Fox JG. CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory lymphocytes require interleukin 10 to interrupt colon carcinogenesis in mice. Cancer Res. 2003;63(18):6042-50. Epub 2003/10/03. PubMed PMID: 14522933. 
  • b) Erdman SE, Sohn JJ, Rao VP, Nambiar PR, Ge Z, Fox JG, Schauer DB. CD4+CD25+ regulatory lymphocytes induce regression of intestinal tumors in ApcMin/+ mice. Cancer Res. 2005;65(10):3998-4004. Epub 2005/05/19. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-04-3104. PubMed PMID: 15899788. 
  • c) Rao VP, Poutahidis T, Ge Z, Nambiar PR, Horwitz BH, Fox JG, Erdman SE. Proinflammatory CD4+ lymphocytes promote mammary and intestinal carcinogenesis in Apc(Min/+) mice. Cancer Res. 2006;66(1):57-61. Epub 2006/01/07. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-05-3445. PubMed PMID: 16397216. 
  • d) Erdman SE, Rao VP, Poutahidis T, Rogers AB, Taylor CL, Jackson EA, Ge Z, Lee CW, Schauer DB, Wogan GN, Tannenbaum SR, Fox JG. Nitric oxide and TNF-alpha trigger colonic inflammation and carcinogenesis in Helicobacter hepaticus-infected, Rag2-deficient mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009;106(4):1027-32. Epub 2009/01/24. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812347106. PubMed PMID: 19164562; PMCID: PMC2633549.  
     
  • Gut Microbiota Modulate Extra-Intestinal Pathology and Cancer. In the capacity of principal investigator, and with support from the NIH and the DoD, the Erdman laboratory discovered that a gut microbiota-immune axis is systemic and impacts cancer development in distant non-intestinal tissues, including the breast. In an invited review in 2007, Dr. Erdman described the potential importance of interconnections between GI microbiota and immune cells. She furthermore showed that diseases are associated with gut microbe-induced immune dysregulation favoring inflammatory factors IL-6 and IL-17. Ultimately, Dr. Erdman showed in preclinical models that feeding of beneficial microbes was sufficient for restoring immune homeostasis and suppression of some types of extra-intestinal cancers. Dr. Erdman designed and coordinated all aspects of these studies. Others have recently shown that gut microbiota-mediated host immune activities modulate breast cancer progression in humans, demonstrating the relevance of her foundational work.   
  • a)  Rao VP, Poutahidis T, Ge Z, Nambiar PR, Boussahmain C, Wang YY, Horwitz BH, Fox JG, Erdman SE. Innate immune inflammatory response against enteric bacteria Helicobacter hepaticus induces mammary adenocarcinoma in mice. Cancer Res. 2006;66(15):7395-400. Epub 2006/08/04. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-0558. PubMed PMID: 16885333. 
  • b)  Rao VP, Poutahidis T, Fox JG, Erdman SE. Breast cancer: should gastrointestinal bacteria be on our radar screen? Cancer Res. 2007;67(3):847-50. Epub 2007/02/07. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-3468. PubMed PMID: 17283110. 
  • c)   Erdman SE, Rao VP, Olipitz W, Taylor CL, Jackson EA, Levkovich T, Lee CW, Horwitz BH, Fox JG, Ge Z, Poutahidis T. Unifying roles for regulatory T cells and inflammation in cancer. Int J Cancer. 2010;126(7):1651-65. Epub 2009/10/02. doi: 10.1002/ijc.24923. PubMed PMID: 19795459; PMCID: PMC4068029. 
  • d)  Lakritz JR, Poutahidis T, Levkovich T, Varian BJ, Ibrahim YM, Chatzigiagkos A, Mirabal S, Alm EJ, Erdman SE. Beneficial bacteria stimulate host immune cells to counteract dietary and genetic predisposition to mammary cancer in mice. Int J Cancer. 2014;135(3):529-40. Epub 2014/01/03. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28702. PubMed PMID: 24382758; PMCID: PMC4131439.   

  • Earlier Exposures to Gut Microbes Protect Against Disabilities including Cancer (the ‘Hygiene Hypothesis’). Building upon data from NIH and DoD-funding, Dr. Erdman postulated innovative models by which early-life exposures to gut microbiota modulate risk for developing cancer later in life. Pursuant to these ideas, the Erdman laboratory demonstrated that earlier immune cell programming and alters potency of CD4+ T cells enabling suppression of systemic inflammation. An invited review published in 2010, she describes the proposed interconnections between GI microbiota and early-life exposures in risk for developing diverse diseases later in life. The Erdman laboratory ultimately found in mouse models that pathogenic gut microbiota not only promote cancer in exposed animals, but they also impart multigenerational consequences with increased risk of developing lymphoma, liver and lung cancers in children and grandchildren. Dr. Erdman furthermore leveraged microbial engineering to show that microbes can be harnessed to suppress cancer and augment anti-cancer immunotherapy.   
  • a)  Erdman SE, Rao VP, Olipitz W, Taylor CL, Jackson EA, Levkovich T, Lee CW, Horwitz BH, Fox JG, Ge Z, Poutahidis T. Unifying roles for regulatory T cells and inflammation in cancer. Int J Cancer. 2010;126(7):1651-65. Epub 2009/10/02. doi: 10.1002/ijc.24923. PubMed PMID: 19795459; PMCID: PMC4068029. 
  • b)  Poutahidis T, Varian BJ, Levkovich T, Lakritz JR, Mirabal S, Kwok C, Ibrahim YM, Kearney SM, Chatzigiagkos A, Alm EJ, Erdman SE. Dietary microbes modulate transgenerational cancer risk. Cancer Res. 2015;75(7):1197-204. Epub 2015/02/27. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-2732. PubMed PMID: 25716681; PMCID: PMC4383701. 
  • c)   Doulberis M, Angelopoulou K, Kaldrymidou E, Tsingotjidou A, Abas Z, Erdman SE, Poutahidis T.   Cholera-toxin suppresses carcinogenesis in a mouse model of inflammation-driven sporadic colon cancer. Carcinogenesis (2015) 36 (2): 280-290.doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgu325. epub: Dec 30 2014. PMID: 25550315; PMCID: PMC4402334.Erdman SE. Gut microbiota: Microbes offer engineering strategies to combat cancer. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;13(3):125-6. Epub 2016/02/11. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2016.14. PubMed PMID: 26860267. 
  • d)  Varian, B.J., et al., Maternal Microbiota Modulate a Fragile X-like Syndrome in Offspring Mice. Genes, 2022. 13(8): p. 1409.  PMID: 36011319, PMCID: PMC9407566; DOI: 10.3390/genes13081409   

  • Gut Microbes, Host immunity and Sociability Unify Wound Healing and Cancer. In a pilot study funded by NIH, the Erdman laboratory, together with collaborators at MIT, discovered that beneficial microbes induce sociability hormone oxytocin-dependent changes in epithelia that promote wound healing capacity. Using a mouse model for skin injury, Dr. Erdman and colleagues showed that animals that received L. reuteri in their drinking water, wounds heal approximately twice as fast as littermates that did not receive L. reuteri. She furthermore showed that people who consume L. reuteri as a dietary supplement have accelerated wound healing compared to controls. With support from U01 grant funding from the NIH, the Erdman laboratory, together with collaborators from MIT, discovered microbe-dependent multigenerational disease risks with neurological and social implications that were rescued after oral dosing with beneficial microbes.   
  • a)  Levkovich T, Poutahidis T, Smillie C, Varian BJ, Ibrahim YM, Lakritz JR, Alm EJ, Erdman SE. Probiotic bacteria induce a 'glow of health'. PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53867. Epub 2013/01/24. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053867. PubMed PMID: 23342023; PMCID: PMC3547054. 
  • b)  Poutahidis T, Kearney SM, Levkovich T, Qi P, Varian BJ, Lakritz JR, Ibrahim YM, Chatzigiagkos A, Alm EJ, Erdman SE. Microbial symbionts accelerate wound healing via the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin. PLoS One. 2013;8(10):e78898. Epub 2013/11/10. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078898. PubMed PMID: 24205344; PMCID: PMC3813596. 
  • c)   Varian BJ, Poutahidis T, DiBenedictis BT, Levkovich T, Ibrahim Y, Didyk E, Shikhman L, Cheung HK, Hardas A, Ricciardi CE, Kolandaivelu K, Veenema AH, Alm EJ, Erdman SE. Microbial lysate upregulates host oxytocin. Brain Behavior & Immunity, online: j.bbi.2016.11.002doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2016.11.002.PMID: 27825953.; PMCID: PMC5431580. 
  • d)  Sarkar A, Harty S, Johnson KV, Moeller AH, Carmody RN, Lehto SM, Erdman SE, Dunbar RIM, Burnet PWJ. The role of the microbiome in the neurobiology of social behaviour. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2020 Oct;95(5):1131-1166. doi: 10.1111/brv.12603. Epub 2020 May 7.PMID: 32383208   

  • Environmental Factors Modulate Microbiota and Risk for Diseases. With collaborators at MIT, and at other universities, we have discovered that dietary factors and antibiotics influence microbial ecology and ultimately risk for diseases, such as enterocolitis.   
  • a)  Kearney SM, Gibbons SM, Erdman SE, Alm EJ.Orthogonal Dietary Niche Enables Reversible Engraftment of a Gut Bacterial Commensal. Cell Rep. 2018 Aug 14;24(7):1842-1851. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.032. PMID: 30110640  
  • b)  VanInsberghe D, Elsherbini JA, Varian B, Poutahidis T, Erdman S, Polz MF. Diarrhoeal events can trigger long-term Clostridium difficile colonization with recurrent blooms. Nat Microbiol. 2020 Apr;5(4):642-650. doi: 10.1038/s41564-020-0668-2. Epub 2020 Feb 10.PMID: 32042128 
  • c)  Kay JE, Mirabal S, Briley WE, Kimoto T, Poutahidis T, Ragan T. So PT, Wadduwage DN, Erdman SE, Engelward BP. Analysis of mutations in tumor and normal adjacent tissue via fluorescence detection, Environ Mol Mutagen. 2021 Feb;62(2):108-123. doi: 10.1002/em.22419. Epub 2020 Dec 28.PMID: 33314311 
  • d)  Diener C, Hoge ACH, Kearney SM, Kusebauch U, Patwardhan S, Moritz RL, Erdman SE, Gibbons SM. Non-responder phenotype reveals apparent microbiome-wide antibiotic tolerance in the murine gut. Commun Biol. 2021 Mar 9;4(1):316. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-01841-8.PMID: 33750910
      
  •   Complete List of Published Work in PubMed (ca. 80)