On May 13, 2016, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) announced a new National Microbiome Initiative, a coordinated effort to better understand microbiomes — communities of microorganisms that live on and in people, plants, soil, oceans and the atmosphere — and to develop tools to protect and restore healthy microbiome function.

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) joined the National Microbiome Initiative, an effort to better understand microbiomes and develop tools to protect and restore healthy microbiome function.  UCSD was a key participant in this effort, and invested $12 million in its own microbiome research efforts.