Microbiome and Nutrition
The complex community of bacteria, yeasts and viruses living in our intestines, collectively known as the gut microbiome, is shaped, in part, by what we eat. Genetics, environment, and other factors also influence an individual’s microbial community. Research at the NRI investigates these complex relationships and their impact on disease risk. We use animal models and bioinformatics to study the associations between nutritional metabolites, gut microbiome, and health. What happens in the gut doesn’t stay in the gut. Your microbiome can play a role in cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, and even cancer. Our team envisions a future where analysis of your microbiome can determine disease risk, and medical foods can be prescribed to treat and prevent disease by regulating the microbiome.
Publications
Microbiome and Nutrition Publications
2020
Population studies of TMAO and its precursors may help elucidate mechanisms. Meyer K
2019
Association of dietary patterns with the gut microbiota in older, community-dwelling men. Meyer K
2018
Meta-analysis of human genome-microbiome association studies: the MiBioGen consortium initiative. Meyer K
Human microbiota, blood group antigens, and disease. Sumner S
2017
Trimethylamine N-Oxide, the Microbiome, and Heart and Kidney Disease. Zeisel S
2016
Diet and Gut Microbial Function in Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disease Risk. Meyer K
Antibiotic-mediated gut microbiome perturbation accelerates development of type 1 diabetes in mice. Sumner S
Related News
September 2020
Precision Nutrition–the Answer to "What to Eat to Stay Healthy" August 28, 2020 – From an opinion paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Griffin P. Rodgers, MD, and Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD for NIH. The long-recognized centrality and importance...
Research Uncovered: Baba Mass
This article was published originally by endeavors on August 19th, 2020. Baba Mass is a research technician in the Voruganti Lab within the UNC Nutrition Research Institute. He studies how genes and diet impact serum uric acid levels – a chemical created when the body...
Precision Nutrition—the Answer to “What to Eat to Stay Healthy”
This article was published originally online in the Journal of the American Medical Association on August 7, 2020. By Griffin P. Rodgers, MD and Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD The long-recognized centrality and importance of...
Matching Meals to Metabolism
This article was originally published on knowablemagazine.org on July 28, 2020. By Jyoti Madhusoodanan Q&A with nutrition researcher Steven Zeisel Genes, microbes and other factors govern how each person’s body processes nutrients. Understanding the connections...
August 2020
What I Learned About Nutrition Risks for COVID-19 July 30, 2020 – by Martin Kohlmeier, MD, PhD I am just reading that the Director-General of the World Health Association, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing that the Covid-19 pandemic "is not even close to...
July 2020
Voruganti to Advance Research on Childhood Obesity with NIH Grant June 30, 2020 – NRI principal investigator Saroja Voruganti, PhD, has received a 2020 Cross Border Collaboration Award from the Center for Global Health Studies (CGHS) at the National Institutes of...