Suzanne Devkota will be talking about her research at this CEMinar. Suzanne Devkota, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Cedars-Sinai Division of Gastroenterology investigating the role of diet in shaping the community of bacteria that live in our intestines (the "gut microbiome"). Her research into the effects of dietary fat on host-microbe interactions in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) led to some of the first mechanistic insights into why "modern" diseases such as IBD, diabetes and food allergies have rapidly increased over the past 50-100 years.
Her ongoing research focuses on the role of sulfur-reducing bacteria on host immune responses and on counteractive nutritional therapies. Devkota teams with Cedars-Sinai physicians to combine clinical and basic research utilizing patient samples, in vivo conventional and gnotobiotic animal models, and sequencing- and culture-based microbial methodologies to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying clinical phenomena. Her goal is to add a powerful new dimension to diagnosis and treatment through a better understanding of gut microbial contributions to disease.
