The recent academic and industrial interest in the microbiome field stems from its role in regulating both health and disease. As such, there is significant potential in therapies that either directly perturb the microbiome, or harness the microbiome to improve the delivery of therapeutics. We believe this is a timely topic: nationally, many large pharma and start-ups are developing a new generation of microbe-based therapeutics, with a number already in clinical trials. We believe research initiatives that integrate cutting edge drug delivery technologies from pharmaceutical sciences with microbiology is necessary to ensure the success of these next-generation microbe therapeutics. To address the current trend and training needs, the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will host this year's Chapel Hill PharmSci conference focused on the interface between drug delivery and the microbiome.