Welcome to the website of the Loyola Urinary Education and Research Collaborative (LUEREC). We are a transdisciplinary translational research team that includes clinicians, clinical microbiologists, basic scientists and bioinformaticians. Members of LUEREC work together to understand how communities of microbes (microbiota) that inhabit the bladder and other niches of the genitourinary tract impact genitourinary wellness and illness. 

Urine is NOT sterile. LUEREC has refuted the old dogma that urine is sterile, providing DNA and culture evidence that the “healthy” bladder is home to its own unique microbiota. While the investigation of the urinary microbiota (also known as the urobiome) is in its infancy, the characterization of the urobiome has the potential to improve the evaluation and management of genitourinary-associated disorders, including urgency urinary incontinence, urinary tract infection, urothelial cell carcinoma and urinary stone disease.