Doctoral Dissertation Research: Industrialized ecologies and infant gut microbiome development

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

The human gut microbiome is a community of bacteria and other microorganisms that has co-evolved with humans and plays important roles in metabolism and health. Rapid global industrialization has led to changes in diet, lifestyle and medical practices, all of which may shape the early life development of the gut microbiome and its contribution to energy storage and fat deposition.

This doctoral dissertation research project examines how infant feeding and care shape the development and energetic function of the gut microbiome and infant growth and fat deposition. The findings can inform the understanding of how evolutionarily novel environments interact with biology and culture and influence the development of the human microbiome and its contribution to growth in early life.

The project provides training and mentoring in STEM for female scientists and involves science and public health outreach in local communities.

This project integrates approaches from biocultural anthropology and evolutionary medicine to understand how early environments shape infant growth and metabolism through the gut microbiome. The primary aim of the project is to examine the impact of different complementary diets (an infant’s first non-milk foods) and antibiotic exposure on infant growth and the composition and energetic function of the gut microbiome during the weaning period.

With a longitudinal cohort of mother-infant dyads in urban and rural settings, the investigators use next-generation sequencing and targeted metabolomics approaches to measure the composition of bacterial communities and short-chain fatty acids (markers of microbial energetic activity) in infant fecal samples. The investigators also collect qualitative and quantitative data on infant diet, health histories, antibiotic exposures, adiposity and growth rates from 4 to 8 months postpartum.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.