Allen Endowed Chair in Nutrition & Chronic Disease Prevention, Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor, University Faculty Fellow, and NCI R35 Outstanding Investigator
Project: Human milk Oligosaccharides in gut health.
Epidemiologic studies support numerous benefits of breastfeeding compared to formula feeding, particularly related to gut and immune outcomes. Gastrointestinal and immune development are influenced by dietary intake and the gut microbiome. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), a group of complex carbohydrates that represent the third most abundant component of human milk, can both directly and indirectly (via the microbiome) affect intestinal epithelial and immune cells. The goal of this research is to investigate the molecular mechanisms whereby HMOs regulate intestinal epithelial and mucosal immune cells using germ-free and gnotobiotic mice in combination with single cell sequencing.