by Caroline Wee, the SfN Singapore’s Director of Seminars
On Friday, 3rd December, SfN.SG together with A*STAR’s Brain-Body Initiative launched the Brain & Body Seminar Series with Professor Liping Zhao (Rutgers University) as the inaugural speaker. Prof Zhao’s team has pioneered the approach of applying metagenomics – metabolomics integrated tools and dietary intervention for systems understanding and predictive manipulation of gut microbiota to improve human metabolic health.
In his extremely engaging seminar and lively Q&A session, Prof Zhao outlined important principles and approaches for microbiome analysis, such as the new concept of “guilds” rather than the taxonomic background as the functional unit of microbial ecosystems. Additionally, he presented a few success stories of how some of these strategies were used to develop bench to bedside dietary interventions for reshaping the microbiome and hence treating obesity in patients.
The Brain & Body Seminar series will continue over 2022, with the goal of engaging a broad audience interested in interactions between brain and organ systems and their roles in regulating metabolic and mental health and disease.