NFHC members receive recognition at Harvard conference

October 16, 2018

Two members of the Department of Food Science and Technology and the Nebraska Food for Health Center (NFHC) participated in the Gut Health, Microbiota, and Probiotics conference held last week at Harvard Medical School. This widely attended conference featured Dr. Jeff Gordon (Washington University) as the keynote speaker along with other leading international researchers in the gut microbiota field.

Representing the NFHC, Bob Hutkins presented an invited lecture on “Influences of Functional and Fermented Foods on Intestinal Health”. He also participated in a round-table wrap-up discussion following the end of the conference.

Also from the NFHC, Amanda Ramer-Tait presented “Interactions among specific bacterial species and the resident microbiota determine the metabolic effects of a prebiotic” during the poster session. Her graduate student, Rafael Segura Munoz, was the lead author on this research.

Another highlight of this conference was the formal announcement (at the Harvard Club!) of the 2017 Young Investigator for Probiotics Research award to Professor Amanda Ramer-Tait. This prestigious award reflects the outstanding accomplishments in gut health biology by Professor Ramer-Tait and her terrific research group.