I have more than 10 years of research experience in studying the impact of diet and gut microbiota on the development of metabolic diseases including obesity, diabetes, and carcinogenesis. In my graduate studies, I developed a high fructose- and sucrose-induced diabetes rat model to study the effect of microbiota and probiotic intervention in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Through this project, I identified several probiotic bacteria and antimicrobial peptides that can be used for prevention and treatment of diabetes and aquaculture infectious disease. At University of California, Davis, I started studying the effect of Western diet through bile acid signaling pathways that lead to the development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Thus far, our published data clearly show dysregulated bile acid synthesis drives gut dysbiosis, which causes hepatic inflammation. In addition, Western diet intake lead to systemic inflammation including reduced neuroplasticity, dermatitis, fatty liver, etc. Currently at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, I am working on the effect of bile acid signaling pathways and host microbe interaction in development of cardiovascular disease (Atherosclerosis and Kawasaki disease).
Research Interests
Keywords:
Probiotic Gut Microbiota Gut mucosal Immunity Liver cancer Metabolic disorder