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Q&A with Dr. Cliff McDonald, CDC

Written by Media on . Posted in News, OpenDialog.

OpenDialog March 2026 – Issue One

Patient outcomes may depend on science that’s moving faster than any of us can track. OpenBiome Foundation’s monthly newsletter cuts through the noise – delivering focused conversations with leading researchers and clinicians on the microbiome discoveries most relevant to your practice. The first edition features Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, MD, Associate Director for Science in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one of the foremost experts in Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) epidemiology.

Science in the Field: Dr. Walter Sandoval’s Mission to Map Rural Microbiomes in Paraguay

Written by Julie B. O'Brien on . Posted in Field Notes, OpenDialog.

What motivated you to study the microbiome in rural Paraguay? 

Only recently were we able to decipher the Paraguayan gut microbiome — and that research was limited to urban populations in the Asunción metro area. Until then, no other work had been done with a Paraguayan population, meaning Paraguay was vastly underrepresented in microbiome studies. Since microbiomes can vary significantly across populations, the next logical step in my goal to put Paraguay on the microbiome map was to begin studying rural communities.