While at North Carolina State University, I studied early gut development, function, and morphology and nutrient-gene expression in turkey embryos. Because the avian embryo develops in a closed system independent of maternal influences, aves are an excellent animal model in which to study the effect of nutrients on gut development and expression. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the Pediatric GI Unit and Mucosal Immunology under the direction of Dr. Haining Shi and Dr. W. Allan Walker. During the course of my postdoctoral research, I will study the effects of prebiotics and/or probiotics on early gut development and host protection from enteric pathogens using a mouse model, and explore the mechanisms by which prebiotics and/or probiotics modulate host protective immunity against enteric bacterial infections.
BioSketch:
June 2005 – present: Post-doctoral Fellow
Mucosal Immunology/Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Fall 2001 – June 2005: Ph.D.
Nutrition/Biotechnology/Department Poultry Science & Food Science
North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC
Ph.D. Dissertation: The biochemical and molecular effects of amnionic nutrient administration "in OVO feeding" on intestinal development and function and carbohydrate metabolisms in turkey embryos and poults.
Spring 1998-Fall 2000: M.S.
Physiology/GI physiology/Department of Zoology & Physiology
North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC
M.S. Thesis: The effects of diet on intestinal adaptation in wild versus domestic turkey poults.
