Among postmenopausal women who suffer from recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI), vaginal
estrogen therapy prevents UTI recurrences for 50% of sufferers. This research will
investigate why some women benefit but others do not, focusing on (a) the effects of vaginal
estrogen therapy on the bacteria that inhabit the vagina and bladder, (b) its influence on
immune responses in both compartments, and (c) the extent to which those changes are critical
to successful UTI prevention. The findings will be a first step in the development of more
effective strategies to prevent UTI, one of the most common and costly benign urologic
conditions.