Overview
I am a gut-brain neuroscientist.
Though my initial studies focused on GI physiology and nutrition, my expertise evolved to include neuroscience following the many personal stories, which have carefully sharpened my career vision along the way. While pursuing a Doctoral degree in Nutrition, a friend shared her struggles with obesity and gastric bypass surgery.
Surgery was a last resort but helped to reduced her body weight dramatically and resolved her diabetes. Yet, the most striking part of her story for me was that her perception of taste had been markedly transformed. Reshaping her gut caused her brain to convert a prior repulsion at the appearance of runny egg yolk into a strong craving to eat those same eggs.
Today, we are still a long way from understanding the full details of these intriguing conversations between our gut and our brain. But, the more we understand, the closer we are getting to treating disorders involving alterations in the perception of food in our gut.
My focus is to unveil how the brain perceives what the gut feels, how food in the intestine is sensed by our body, and how a sensory signal from a nutrient is transformed into an electrical signal that alters behavior.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Deciphering visceral instincts: a scientific quest to unravel food choices from molecules to mind.
Journal Article Genes Dev · October 16, 2024 The study of biological mechanisms, while crucial, cannot fully explain complex phenomena like the instinct to eat. The mind-body connection, as exemplified by the concept of "voodoo death," highlights the profound influence of belief and cultural context ... Full text Link to item CiteMultifunctional microelectronic fibers enable wireless modulation of gut and brain neural circuits.
Journal Article Nat Biotechnol · June 2024 Progress in understanding brain-viscera interoceptive signaling is hindered by a dearth of implantable devices suitable for probing both brain and peripheral organ neurophysiology during behavior. Here we describe multifunctional neural interfaces that com ... Full text Link to item CiteThe neural basis of sugar preference.
Journal Article Nat Rev Neurosci · October 2022 When it comes to food, one tempting substance is sugar. Although sweetness is detected by the tongue, the desire to consume sugar arises from the gut. Even when sweet taste is impaired, animals can distinguish sugars from non-nutritive sweeteners guided by ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Neurobiology Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029Endocrinology and Metabolism Training Program
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029Gut epithelial control of nutrient reward
ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases · 2024 - 2028View All Grants