Meghan Koch, PhD

Dr. Meghan Koch studies how maternal-derived signals shape infant development, immunity and metabolism. Breastmilk transfers nutrients and specialized immune proteins, such as antibodies, to infants. These antibodies help protect infants from infection. They also influence the infant gut microbiota, the collection of microbes that colonize the intestines. The microbiota is key to health, and perturbations can have long-term effects on infant growth and immune responses later in life, including risk of allergy and asthma. Dr. Koch studies how an infant’s developing immune system learns to coexist with these microbes, and how maternal antibodies shape this process. She also examines the long-term consequences of changes in these early maternal-infant interactions.