Dr. Lemay's lab studies how dietary components, especially fermentable carbohydrates, affect host response and whether that response is modulated by the functional capabilities of resident microbiota.
Dr. Bennett's research explores genetic components of chronic metabolic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and obesity, through integrative genetic studies, also called "systems genetics."
Dr. Kable is interested in the mechanisms governing how diet impacts the bacterial composition of the human gut and how these diet-bacterial interactions can influence human health.
Research Nutritionist | Interim Director Institute for Global Nutrition
Dr. Hess' research interests involve the design, implementation and evaluation of programs to control micronutrient deficiencies among children and women in low-income countries, and related issues of nutrient bioavailability, nutrient-nutrient interactions and nutritional assessment. The research program is generally carried out in the context of community-based intervention trials, using an efficacy or effectiveness study design.
Dr. Haskell's research is focused on assessing the bioavailability of vitamin A from plant-based diets, and evaluating the efficacy and safety of vitamin A interventions in low-income countries.
Dr. Wessells' research interests are focused on micronutrient deficiencies among infants and young children in low-income countries, and the evaluation of therapeutic and preventive interventions designed to improve nutritional status in these populations. She is also interested in the dietary and biochemical assessment of nutritional status, and relationships between nutritional status, intestinal mucosal function and infection. She has extensive expertise in designing and implementing randomized controlled trials, as well as conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Dr. Laugero's lab studies stress and nutrition interrelationships. Research is being conducted to understand physiological and metabolic underpinnings of inter-individual variability in stress responsiveness, and how this can be used to explain vulnerability or resilience to the negative mental and physical effects of chronic stress. A systems approach is applied to examine the interrelationships between stress, diet, and physical activity in animal models, humans, and the community to identify mechanisms and factors that explain differential regulation of the stress response.
Dr. Newman's research group is developing and applying targeted and untargeted metabolomics tools to investigate metabolic responses to diet and their implications in the context of obesity and its associated co-morbidities. Active research areas include: 1) Investigating the functional implications of lipoprotein particle metabolomics structure on vascular and adipose physiology; 2) Investigating cross-talk between mediators of energy metabolism, inflammation, tissue growth and satiety; 3) Mapping the natural variance in metabolic responses to dietary challenges; 4) Investigating the impact of diet quality and weight maintenance/loss on metabolic indices of health; 5) Developing analytical tools for the quantitative assessment of dietary intake.
Dr. Bonnel is the Human Studies Manager at the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC). The mission of the WHNRC is to create and test food based interventions to improve the health of all Americans.
