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
NGx Scholarship Application Confirmation
Thank you for submitting your NGx Scholarship Application! We will review your application and get in touch with you. If you have any questions regarding your application, please email them to NRI_NGX@unc.edu.
Nutrition for Dancers @ Piedmont School of Music & Dance
January 22, 2020 – Kaylee Helfrich, a doctoral graduate student in the Smith Lab at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute as well as an accomplished dancer, gave a program on nutrition for dancers at the Piedmont School of Music and Dance in Kannapolis. The recipes from this program are available here for your cooking enjoyment!
Early-Life Predictors of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
January 22, 2020 – The clinical teams at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute and in South Africa led by principal investigator Philip A. May, PhD have published findings of a decade-long effort to drive down the age at which the diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) can be made in affected children. The paper, “Early-Life Predictors of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” is published in Pediatrics.
January 2020
NRI Congratulates First-time First-authors December 2019 –Agatha Christie once said, “The first time you do a thing is always exciting.” Well, we’ve had a lot of excitement at the Nutrition Research Institute recently! Two members of the Smith Lab are celebrating...
AFL Program Summaries September 2019 – May 2020
Appetite For Life – Wednesday, September 18, 2019: “Good Bowls: A social venture to improve healthy food access” was presented by Alice Ammerman, DrPH, Mildred Kaufman Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Director of the...
Important NIH Award for NRI and Partners
December 12, 2019 – Agatha Christie once said, “the first time you do a thing is always exciting.” Well, we’ve had a lot of excitement at the Nutrition Research Institute recently! Two members of the Smith Lab are celebrating becoming first-time first-authors of scientific journal publications.