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
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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
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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...
June 2020
Fighting Vitamin D Deficiency May Lower Risk of Contracting COVID-19 Especially among Common High-risk Groups May 30, 2020 – Vitamin D deficiency impedes good immune function and has been shown to contribute to the seasonal increase of viral respiratory infections,...
May 2020
Natalia Krupenko, PhD, Promoted to Associate Professor of Nutrition April 30, 2020 – Natalia Krupenko, PhD, has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nutrition Research...