VAST Center: Viromes Across Space(s) and Time

OVERALL ABSTRACT The VAST (Viromes Across Spaces and Time) Center proposes to comprehensively identify the human- associated virome and characterize the viral constituents through a unique set of longitudinal samples collected from healthy individuals. To advance our understanding of the human virome, we will employ innovative approaches by accessing unique, well-phenotyped cohorts, exploring diverse lifestyles, engaging with underrepresented communities, utilizing cutting-edge methods for virome-focused microbiome profiling, and emphasizing absolute quantification of viruses rather than relying solely on relative abundance measurements, while also using spatial imaging technology to delineate viral tropism at the subcellular level. The participating laboratories have collected longitudinal samples from a number unique cohorts including: a) densely profiled samples from ~171 extensively characterized individuals who have been tracked for up to 13.5 years. Subsets have performed dietary interventions (e.g. fiber supplementation) and lifestyle changes have been tracked; b) individuals who have been to low earth orbit or Antarctica; c) members of underserved groups such as Native Americans, Hispanics and African Americans, d) children from underserved groups who have undergone an exercise intervention; e) individuals who have had their associated airborne samples (exposome) collected; f) many others. We propose to characterize the virome in depth from these individuals and correlate virus presence, abundance and changes with features of the cohort: location, ethnicity, diet, and perturbations including location (space) and lifestyle (diet, exercise).