Genito-urinary Microbiological Determinants of Self-Perceived Bladder Health

Aim 1: Define the GU microbiome across the life course of healthy women a) Assess the stability or instability of the GU microbiome over time. b) Identify if there is a dominant GU microbiome during different life phases. c) Investigate whether instability in GU microbiome is associated with changes in self-perceived bladder health or the development of lower urinary tract symptoms. Aim 2: Develop a database of commonly occurring elements of contamination associated with the GU microbiome (acquired through vaginal sampling), which will be used to build a statistical model of potential contamination that can be applied to future microbiota analysis on voided urine samples.