Research in my laboratory, the Nutrition and Human Microbiome Laboratory, integrates the areas of nutrition, gastrointestinal physiology, and the microbiome. Our research focuses on the clinical application of nutritional sciences with an overarching goal of improving human health through dietary modulation of the gastrointestinal microbiome. The advances in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have revolutionized our view of the microbiome and expanded our understanding of its role in host physiology and subsequent health and disease. However, the capability of diet to modulate health via changes in the microbiome remains under-investigated. My research laboratory aims to advance foundational knowledge in the field of nutrition and the human microbiome by characterizing the impact of diet and ingestive behaviors (e.g. eating frequency and timing) on the human gastrointestinal microbiome using machine learning and big data approaches. Other research interests include delineating the interrelationship of diet and the gastrointestinal microbiome on metabolic health and studying the physiological functions of fibers, prebiotics, and probiotics on the gut-microbiota-brain axis. The long-range goal of my research is to develop targeted dietary interventions for disease prevention and treatment by identifying key foods and/or nutrients that can be utilized for manipulation of the human gastrointestinal microbiome for health benefit.
