Season 1: 2015-2016

Our opening season of Gastronauts highlights the triangle area scientists excited about gut-brain matters.

September 2015: Autism and the gut

Yong-Hui Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University. His laboratory investigates synaptic genes that underly neuro-developmental disorders such as autism.

October 2015: Gut feelings in anorexia

Nancy Zucker, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University. Her laboratory works on the link between visceral hypersensitivity and eating disorders.

November 2015: Carcinogenic gut microbes

Janella Arthur, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at UNC-Chapel Hill. Janelle’s group seeks to understand how inflammation alters the pro-carcinogenic capabilities of the microbiota.

December 2015: Gut microbes and behavior

Ian Carroll, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Carroll’s research studies how intestinal microbes influence gut physiology and behaviors.

January 2016: Window to the gut… literally

Xiling Shen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. Xiling’s laboratory has developed a unique 3D printed scaffold to image the gut in awake behaving animals.

February 2016: MicroRNAs… MicroRNAs… MicroRNAs…

Praveen Sethupathy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Genetics at UNC-Chapel Hill. Praveen studies microRNAs and how they respond to gut microbes.

March 2016: Neuroimmune interactions and behavior

Staci Bilbo, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Dr. Bilbo’s laboratory explores the interactions between the nervous and immune systems.

April 2016: GLP-1 and metabolism

Jonathan Campbell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Duke University. Dr. Campbell studies glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP), an incretin hormone released from the proximal small intestine that stimulates insulin release after a meal.

May 2016: Piglets and infant formulas

Jack Odle, Ph.D., William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Nutrition at Department of Nutrition. Jack’s laboratory studies lipid metabolism, specifically of long chain fatty acids found in milk, and intestinal disorders, specifically ischemic or infectious insults.