Upcoming Events

ILSI shares science to diverse audiences by hosting, sponsoring, and co-organizing a variety of events around the world. These include independent symposia; workshops; hands-on scientific training; and sessions held as part of the program of larger scientific and professional meetings.

2018

New Advances: Diet and Microbiome

Southampton, Bermuda

ILSI North America has coordinated a scientific session at the 2018 ILSI Annual Meeting to examine the latest science on the diet and microbiome, including advances on application and intervention for appetite and eating behavior as well as new research on infant and fetal microbiome.

Read more

Threats to the Global Food Supply

Southampton, Bermuda

ILSI North America has organized a scientific session at the 2018 ILSI Annual Meeting which will examine new and emerging global threats to the food chain and system including impact on supply, process, security, agricultural practices, food safety and human health.

Read more

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At the 2018 ILSI Annual Meeting, ILSI North America is organizing a scientific session on New Advances: Diet and Microbiome. This session will examine the latest science on the diet and microbiome, including advances on application and intervention for appetite and eating behavior as well as new research on infant and fetal microbiome. 

Speakers

Cryan, J.

John Cryan, PhD

University College Cork

Davis, C

Cindy Davis, PhD

National Institutes of Health 

Presentation Video Kozyrskyj, A

Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD

University of Alberta

Presentation Video Liska, D

DeAnn Liska, PhD

Biofortis, Merieux NutriSciences

Matar, C.

Chantal Matar, PhD

University of Ottawa

Untitled 4

Gary Wu, PhD, MD

University of Pennsylvania

Presentation Video Agenda Abstracts Bios Agenda

Welcome and Introductions 
Co-Chairs: DeAnn Liska, PhD, Biofortis, Merieux NutriSciences and
Chantal Matar, PhD, University of Ottawa

State of the Science on Microbiota, Diet & Dietary Patterns 
Gary Wu, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Case Examples on Application & Intervention

  • A Gut Feeling About the Brain: Diet, Microbiome & Behavior 
    John Cryan, PhD, University College Cork
  • Shaping the Gut Microbiome During Infancy
    Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD, University of Alberta

Workshop on Best Practices in Studies of Diet and the Intestinal Microbiome
Cindy Davis, PhD,  National Institutes of Health 

Abstracts

State of the Science on Microbiota, Diet & Dietary Patterns

Gary D. Wu, PhD, MD, Ferdinand G. Weisbrod Professor in Gastroenterology, Co-Director PennCHOP Microbiome Program, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The human gut contains a vast number of microorganisms known collectively as the “gut microbiota”. Despite its importance in maintaining the health of the host, growing evidence suggests the gut microbiota may also be an important factor in the pathogenesis of various diseases, a number of which have shown a rapid increase in incidence over the past few decades. In some of these diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the microbiota is “dysbiotic” with an altered community structure and decrease in diversity. If the dysbiotic microbiota plays a role in disease pathogenesis, interventions that modify its composition might be a strategy to treat certain disease processes. The composition of the microbiota can be influenced by many factors including age, genetics, host environment, and diet. Diet has an impact upon both the composition and function of the microbiota in part through small molecule production that may influence the development of both immune-mediated and metabolic diseases. There are a number of ways by which this interaction can be exploited to promote human health including the use of gut microbiome composition to develop personalized diets for the treatment of metabolic syndrome, protect mucus barrier function in the intestinal tract, and as a modality to treat immunologically based diseases such as IBD. In total, there is growing evidence supporting the notion that the dietary manipulation of the gut microbiota and its metabolome can be used as a modality to both maintain health and treat disease. In order to accomplish this goal, there is a need for human intervention studies to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships.

A Gut Feeling about the Brain: Diet, Microbiome & Behavior

John F. Cryan, PhD, APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

The brain-gut-microbiota axis is emerging as a research area of increasing interest for those investigating the biological and physiological basis of brain development and behaviour across the lifespan. A growing body of evidence supports the role of this microbiota in influencing host appetite and food intake. The routes of communication between the gut and brain include the vagus nerve, the immune system, tryptophan metabolism, via the enteric nervous system or by way of microbial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids. These mechanisms also impinge on neuroendocrine function at multiple levels. Studies in animal models have been key in delineating that neurodevelopment and the programming of an appropriate stress response is dependent on the microbiota. Developmentally, a variety of factors can impact the microbiota in early life including mode of birth delivery, antibiotic exposure, mode of nutritional provision, infection, stress as well as host genetics.  At the other extreme of life, individuals who age with considerable ill health tend to show narrowing in microbial diversity. Stress can significantly impact the microbiota-gut-brain axis at all stages across the lifespan. Moreover, fundamental brain processes from adult hippocampal neurogenesis to myelination to microglia activation have been shown to be regulated by the microbiome. A growing body of evidence indicates that there is a crucial role for the microbiota in regulating different aspects of eating-related behaviour, as well as behavioural comorbidities of eating and metabolic disorders. Finally, studies examining the translation of these effects from animals to humans are currently ongoing. Further studies will focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying such brain effects and developing nutritional and microbial-based intervention strategies.

Shaping the Gut Microbiome During Infancy

Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD, Professor, Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Established during infancy, our complex gut microbial community is shaped by medical interventions and societal preferences, such as cesarean section, formula-feeding and antibiotic use. The SyMBIOTA (Synergy in Microbiota) research program aims to quantify age-specific and longitudinal changes in gut microbial composition during infancy following the most common birth and postnatal events affecting infant gut microbial composition. Gut microbiota profiles of full-term infants in the general population Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development birth cohort were obtained using 16S high-throughput gene sequencing. At 3 months of age, depletion of Bacteroidetes and enrichment of Firmicutes (genera Clostridium and Enterococcus) was observed in the infant gut following cesarean delivery and maternal antibiotic prophylaxis during vaginal birth. Fewer changes were detected at 1 year of age, largely among infants who were not exclusively breastfed for at least 3 months. From 3 months to 1 year of age, well-known patterns of microbial phyla succession in later infancy (declining Proteobacteria; increasing Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes) following vaginal birth, breastfeeding and no antibiotic exposure. Genus Lactobacillus, Roseburia and Faecalibacterium species appeared in the top 10 increases to microbial abundance in these infants. Deviations from this pattern were evident among infants with birth and postnatal interventions; notably, the largest number of microbial species with unchanged abundance was seen in gut microbiota following early cessation of breastfeeding in infants. Gut microbiota of infants born vaginally and exclusively formula-fed became less enriched with family Veillonellaceae and Clostridiaceae, showed unchanging levels of Ruminococcaceae and exhibited a greater decline in the Rikenellaceae/ Bacteroideceae ratio compared to their breastfed, vaginally-delivered counterparts. These changes were also evident in cesarean-delivered infants to a lesser extent. The clinical relevance of these trajectories of microbial change is that they culminate in taxon-specific abundances in the gut microbiota of later infancy, which we and others have observed to be associated with food sensitization and overweight.

Workshop on Best Practices in Studies of Diet and the Intestinal Microbiome

Cindy D. Davis, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Christopher J. Lynch, Robert W. Karp and David M. Klurfeld

Many studies of the intestinal microbiome, whether in vitro, in animal models, or in humans report only minimal information about dietary composition despite substantial evidence that diet modulates microbial composition. ILSI North America and USDA sponsored a two-day workshop that was organized by NIH and USDA. This workshop brought together 16 scientific experts to discuss the role of diet in modifying the human gastrointestinal microbiome. The purpose of the workshop was to improve rigor and reproducibility in research on the gastrointestinal microbiome, identify important dietary information that should be reported, and parameters to consider when designing studies on diet and the intestinal microbiome. For all types of studies, strengths and weaknesses of various designs were emphasized and for human studies, comparisons between controlled feeding and observational designs were discussed.  The participants concluded that there are few clearly established best practices for the design of studies on the intestinal microbiome in which diet is a main variable. Moreover, in the absence of clearly superior dietary approaches for specific research questions, the main recommendation is to present dietary information in as much detail as possible so that other researchers can reproduce the work. This emerging field needs to move from associations to causality which will be catalyzed by knowing in as much detail as possible what is ingested, how it is metabolized, and the health consequences derived from these processes.

Bios

DeAnn Liska, PhD

DeAnn Liska is the Senior Director of Nutrition Science & Biostatistics at Biofortis - Mérieux NutriSciences, where she leads the team responsible for scientific consultation, design, and interpretation of clinical trials and literature assessments. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the nutrition industry with past leadership roles at Kellogg’s, Ocean Spray, and Metagenics. Dr. Liska holds a PhD in biochemistry (University of Wisconsin) and was an Assistant Research Professor in biochemistry at the University of Washington prior to joining industry. She is a member ILSI North America’s Food, Nutrition & Safety Program (FNSP) Leadership Program, and is on the scientific advisory panels for the Council for Responsible Nutrition and Cornell Division of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Liska has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and is co-inventor on 12 patents.

Chantal Matar PhD, RD                                                         

Dr. Chantal Matar is a professor at the School of Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa. She obtained her PhD in Food Sciences and Technology from Laval University and completed a Dietetic Internship at Ottawa Hospital. Dr. Matar’s expertise is focused on in vivo assessing of functional foods, probiotics and microbiome in chemoprevention of cancer by controlling cancer stem cells and microRNAs. She is an established investigator with proven track record of supervising highly qualified personnel. Dr. Matar has authored more than 110 communications, including 50 referred papers, book chapters, and patent applications. She was successful in acquiring research funding from different research agencies. In 2014, Dr. Matar received the Best Research Award from Trade and Industry Ministry in Japan and in 2008, an International Union for Cancer Control research fellowship for visiting scientist at WHO.

Gary Wu, PhD, MD

Dr. Wu is the Ferdinand G. Weisbrod Professor in Gastroenterology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he is the Associate Chief for Research in the Division of Gastroenterology, the Associate Director of the Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Disease, and the Co-Director of the PennCHOP Microbiome Program. He was the inaugural Director and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the American Gastroenterological Association's Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education and is currently a member of the Governing Board as the Basic Research Councillor. Dr. Wu is an elected member of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Research programs in the Wu laboratory focus on the mutualistic interactions between the gut microbiota and its host with a particular emphasis on metabolism including nitrogen balance, intestinal oxygen regulation, and epithelial intermediary metabolism. Of particular interest is the effect of diet on the gut microbiome and its relationship to therapeutic responses associated with the use of defined formula diets in the treatment of Crohn’s disease. Insights gained from these projects will hopefully lead to the development of better diets for patients with IBD.

As a former member of the NIDDK-C committee and its Chairman in 2007, Dr. Wu is cognizant of the need to foster the careers of young investigators including those in the field of Gastroenterology. Dr. Wu has been the Associate Director of The University of Pennsylvania Training Program in Gastrointestinal Sciences (T32 DK0706) since 1997, member of the GI Fellowship Committee at Penn, and a member of the Scholarly Oversight Committee at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In this capacity, he has been actively involved in the career development of many GI fellows in the physician-scientist track at Penn. In addition to over two dozen graduate students, post-docs, medical students, and residents that he has mentored over the years, Dr. Wu has specifically mentored nine GI fellows since joining the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. He is proud of the fact that nearly all of these individuals are full time faculty members at academic medical centers.

John F. Cryan, PhD

John F. Cryan is Professor & Chair of the Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience at the University College Cork, Ireland and is also a Principal Investigator at the APC Microbiome Institute. Prof. Cryan's current research is focused on understanding the interaction between brain, gut & microbiome and how it applies to stress, psychiatric and immune-related disorders at key time-windows across the lifespan. Prof. Cryan has published over 400 articles and is co-author of the forthcoming “The Psychobiotic Revolution: Mood, Food, and the New Science of the Gut-Brain Connection” from National Geographic Press. He has received numerous awards including UCC Researcher of the Year in 2012; the University of Utrecht Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Research in 2013 and being named on the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher list in 2014. He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2017. In that year he also received a Research Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterology Association and the Tom Connor Distinguished Scientist Award from Neuroscience Ireland. He was a TEDMED speaker in 2014 and is currently President of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society.

Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, has expertise in epidemiological research using population-based birth cohort studies, including the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) birth cohort. Her current research focuses on early-life programming of childhood atopic disease and overweight by the infant gut microbiome, as influenced by birth method, infant diet and antibiotic use during pregnancy, birth and infancy. Dr. Kozyrskyj has MS and PhD degrees in community health sciences from the University of Manitoba.

Cindy D. Davis, PhD

Cindy Davis is the Director of Grants and Extramural Activities in the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). In this position, she actively engages and encourages partnerships with other NIH Institutes and Centers to facilitate funding of grants that are of high relevance to ODS mission and goals. Dr. Davis is also actively involved in a number of government working groups on the microbiome. Before coming to ODS, she was a Program Director in the Nutritional Sciences Research Group at the National Cancer Institute. Cindy received her bachelor’s degree with honors in nutritional sciences from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and her doctorate degree in nutrition with a minor in human cancer biology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Dr. Davis completed her postdoctoral training at the Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute.  She then joined the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA, as a research nutritionist.  In 2000, Dr. Davis received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and was named the USDA Early Career Scientist.  She has published more than 125 peer-reviewed journal articles and eleven invited book chapters. She is a supplement editor for Journal of Nutrition, assistant editor for Nutrients, assistant editor for Nutrition Reviews and a member of the editorial board for Advances in Nutrition.

Join us for this scientific session coordinated by ILSI North America!

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At the 2018 ILSI Annual Meeting, ILSI North America is organizing a scientific session on Threats to the Global Food Supply. This session will examine new and emerging global threats to the food chain and system including impact on supply, process, security, agricultural practices, food safety and human health. New technologies and approaches to predict and manage threats will be discussed as well as a discussion on the impediments and challenges to reducing threats.

Speakers

Warriner, K.

Keith Warriner, PhD

University of Guelph

Presentation Video Fortin, M.

Marc Fortin, PhD

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Video Hlywka, J

Jason Hlywka, PhD

Kraft Heinz

Like my work?  Please head over to @meganengesethphotography or @meganengesethheadshots and like my page!

Amy Kircher, DrPH

University of Minnesota and National Center for Food Protection & Defense

Lee, B

Bruce Lee, MD, MBA

Johns Hopkins University

Presentation Video Tirado, C

Cristina Tirado, DVM, PhD

UCLA

Place, A.

Allen Place, PhD

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences

Presentation Video Agenda Abstracts Bios Agenda

Welcome & Introductions
Co-Chairs: Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA, Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University and Jason Hlywka, PhD, Kraft Heinz

Introduction: The Security of Complex Food Systems 
Marc Fortin, PhD, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada 

Case Example: Food Microbial Threats 
Keith Warriner, PhD, University of Guelph

Emerging Global Food Threats – Biotoxins Impediments to Aquaculture Feeding the World 
Allen Place, PhD, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences

Climate Change, Food Systems, Nutrition and Health: Challenges and Opportunities
Cristina Tirado, DVM, PhD, UCLA

Case Example: Natural Disasters - Impact on the Global Food Supply
Amy Kircher, DrPH, University of Minnesota and National Center for Food Protection & Defense

A Systems Approach: New Methods and Technologies to Predict and Manage Food Supply Threats
Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA, Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University

Abstracts

The Security of Complex Food Systems

Marc Fortin, PhD, Vice President, Research Partnerships, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Threats to the security of supply chains and different agricultural and food production sectors have identified risks for which stakeholders have developed mitigation plans. These interventions are more often focused on reducing or controlling risks to reduce the probability and severity of impact. Fewer studies have focused on the interconnectedness of security risks identified by public safety and defense officials with their collateral impacts on food, food safety and food security. The security assessments generated by defense and security organizations are generally poorly exploited to identify sources of risks for the food sector. A system of systems approach can provide enhanced situational awareness for identifying “choke points” in the security of food systems. We will discuss concepts of resilience of systems and their application to enhancing food security across different food sectors. The complexity of interactions between the components of food systems creates challenges that are different from many other sectors of civil society.

Microbial Threats to Food System in the Age of Big Data

Keith Warriner, PhD, University of Guelph, Canada

Food safety is a dynamic arena with positive inputs through improved diagnostics, intervention technologies, risk analysis and epidemiology. This has been countered by trends for clean labels, health food fads, climate change, globalization and increase in foods prepared outside the domestic environment. Despite the food revolution the overriding philosophy of the food safety system has been to prevent pathogens reaching the consumer, principally through post-harvest interventions.  In a similar manner, public health has focused on monitoring foodborne illness and source attribution. Yet, the original source of pathogens and the winding road by which they became introduced into the food chain is rarely considered. With the advent of enabling technologies, the age of Big Data has brought valuable insights into the food safety challenge. Specifically, molecular diagnostic techniques have enabled early detection of foodborne illness outbreaks and source attribution. Moreover, the available techniques have detected pathogens in uncommon food vehicles that would have otherwise been missed and highlighted the carriage of unspecified agents (i.e. not confirmed foodborne pathogens) that account for 80% of illnesses recorded. The significance of bacterial dormancy to food safety has also been brought to the fore with increase application of non-culture based techniques. Importantly, Big Data has provided the tools to undertake a One Health approach that aims to reduce the prevalence and dissemination within the food chain. Big Data can also contribute to enhancing traceability that represents an important tool in the globalization of the food supply. Blockchain is one approach and represents a foundation to introduce interventions to minimize the dissemination of pathogens through the farm-to-fork continuum.  

Emerging Global Food Threats – Biotoxins Impediments to Aquaculture Feeding the World

Allen R. Place, PhD, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Baltimore, MD, USA

According to the recent FAO report, aquaculture is the fastest growing food-producing sector worldwide and now accounts for greater than 60% of the world’s fish used for food. A major question is whether continual growth can occur without destroying the environment. Current aquaculture practices harvest fish to feed fish, add excessive nutrients to the aquatic environment, and frequently are associated with harmful algal blooms and other biotoxins which can destroy production. We will examine our current ability to sustainably replace fish meal and fish oil as a feed source, examine feed practices that reduce nutrient input to the environment, and environmental controls on biotoxin accumulation in the final food product, be it mollusks or fish.

Climate Change, Food Systems, Nutrition and Health: Challenges and Opportunities 

Cristina Tirado, DVM, PhD, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA

Promoting sustainable food systems, good nutrition, health and in the context of a changing climate is a central challenge of our time. While climate change has an impact on our food systems, our food systems also affect climate change. Food production and consumption are responsible for 19-29% of the human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By 2050, GHG emissions from food and agriculture could rise by as much as 80% due to the increased consumption of animal products. Food-related GHG emissions could account for half of all emissions allowed by targets for keeping the global rise in temperature to less than 2°C by the middle of the century and could exceed total permissible levels by 2070.

Diets, meanwhile, have deteriorated globally, leading to an increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly type II diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers. Malnutrition is a universal challenge, affecting all countries in its various forms. Economic development, globalization, urbanization and lifestyle changes have caused major shifts towards poor diet, excessive caloric intake and low levels of exercise. The alarming pace of climate and environmental change and its effects on food systems, nutrition and health require a major rethink of how food is produced and consumed.

This presentation will address the nexus between sustainable food systems, dietary patterns, health, nutrition and climate change adaptation and mitigation. It outlines the global frameworks and agreements on climate change, food and nutrition, exploring the many, complex ways in which food systems and diets affects climate change, and vice versa. It looks at food systems and diets that boost health and are environmentally sustainable, as well as the measures needed to steer food production and consumption in that direction, emphasizing the importance of concerted and coherent policymaking to develop sustainable food systems and diets, while safeguarding the planet.

Case Example: Natural Disasters - Impact on the Global Food Supply

Amy Kircher, DrPH, University of Minnesota and National Center for Food Protection & Defense, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

We never imagined we’d have to worry about someone tampering with our food supply, then 9/11 happened. Today we are faced with new stories of intentional contamination of our food for economic gain. To have terrorists and fraudsters target our food supply…the consequences are devastating. We cannot opt out of eating which makes our food supply a critical infrastructure. Disruptions from natural and intentional contamination are a considerable threat as our food system constantly evolves. This talk will highlight the cascading consequences of disasters and the threats to our food system from intelligent adversaries motivated to create fear, harm our citizens, or make money.

A Systems Approach: New Methods and Technologies to Predict and Manage Food Supply Threats

Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA Executive Director, Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC), Associate Professor of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Baltimore, MD, USA

The global food supply is a complex system consisting of food sources, storage and processing equipment and locations, transport vehicles and devices, personnel, and many different steps and processes. The systems around the supply system are also complex and pose different possible threats. Understanding these threats and food security can be challenging without the help of methods and technologies that help better understand complex systems. This talk will cover some of the systems methods and technologies (such as computational simulation modeling) that are relevant to the food supply and threats to the food supply and give examples of applications, such as identifying vulnerabilities and their impact and designing, developing, and testing new policies, interventions, and technologies.

Bios

Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA 

Bruce Lee is Associate Professor of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Executive Director of the Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins (www.globalobesity.org), and Director of Operations Research at the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) as well as Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Dr. Lee has two decades of experience in industry and academia in systems science, digital health, and developing and implementing mathematical and computational methods, models, and tools to assist decision making in public health, health, and medicine. He has been the Principal Investigator for projects supported by a variety of organizations and agencies including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, the Global Fund, and USAID. His previous positions include serving as Senior Manager at Quintiles Transnational, working in biotechnology equity research at Montgomery Securities, and co-founding Integrigen, and serving as an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where he founded PIHCOR (Public Health Computational and Operations Research), which is now based at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Lee has authored over 200 scientific publications (including over 100 first author and over 65 last author) as well as three books: “Principles and Practice of Clinical Trial Medicine”, “What If… ? : Survival Guide for Physician’s, and “Medical Notes : Clinical Medicine Pocket Guide”. He is an Associate Editor for the journal Vaccine and Deputy Editor for PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Dr. Lee is a regular contributor to Forbes and the Huffington Post and has also written for Time, The Guardian, and the MIT Technology Review. His research and expertise have appeared in leading media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Time, CBS News, Businessweek, U.S. News and World Report, Bloomberg News, Reuters, and National Public Radio (NPR). Dr. Lee received his B.A. from Harvard University, M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He completed his internal medicine residency training at the University of California, San Diego. His Twitter handle is @bruce_y_lee

Jason Hlywka, PhD.

Jason Hlywka is the corporate global toxicologist for The Kraft Heinz Company headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA.  In this capacity, Dr. Hlywka has responsibility for leadership and direction on various regulatory and scientific affairs matters that are pertinent to food safety and consumer health across a broad portfolio of food products around the world.  He has dedicated his career to the applied field of food toxicology as it relates to human health and assessing the safety of dietary constituents. Dr. Hlywka completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in toxicology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Hlywka received his Ph.D. in food science and toxicology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA and completed post-doctoral training at the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program at Nebraska under the guidance of Drs. Steve Taylor and Sue Hefle. Prior to Kraft Heinz, he held industry positions with Kraft Foods, Cargill, and Cantox Health Sciences International. Dr. Hlywka has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and participates in various industry, academic, and scientific associations and committees.

Marc Fortin, PhD

As Vice-President of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Research Partnerships, Dr. Fortin is responsible for programs designed to stimulate research partnerships across a broad range of organizations and to maximize the benefits that university and college research provide to Canada.  Prior to joining NSERC, Dr. Fortin held a variety of positions leading research organizations in both academia and government. For 16 years he held senior leadership positions at McGill University including Department Chair and Associate Dean (Research). For the past 11 years, he has led the science and technology branches as Assistant Deputy Minister at the Department of National Defence and previously at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.  He has led the development of innovative funding programs to generate better integrated innovation chains that capitalize on the engagement of actors and intervenors in and outside government.  He is particularly passionate about catalyzing the development of organizations capable of operating in complex environments and in uncertain futures. Dr. Fortin is a graduate of McGill University and of Université Laval, and also conducted research at The University of Chicago and at The University of California at Davis.

 

Allen Place, PhD

Dr. Allen Place is a Professor at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Dr. Place has over 200 publications in diverse areas dealing with Harmful Algae and development of fishmeal free diets for aquaculture. In the wake of the 1997 fish kills and public concern surrounding Pfiesteria, Dr. Place set out to study the algae species blamed for killing fish and sickening humans in the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.  To aid in the study, Place and his team got hold of another algae, Gyrodinium galatheanum (now called Karlodinium veneficum), to serve as a comparison to their species of interest, Pfiesteria.  Both Karlodinium and Pfiesteria are dinoflagellates — one-celled algae that propel through water with whip-like flagella. Things took an unexpected turn when the researchers found that Karlodinium actually appeared more toxic than Pfiesteria. Further study has led Place to suspect that Karlodinium was the real culprit in the so-called “Pfiesteria hysteria” of 1997. He has spent the last fifteen years researching the microscopic algal cell at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (formerly COMB) in Baltimore. Every year since then, blooms of Karlodinium have been implicated in fish kills along the Atlantic coast as well as worldwide. The nature of fish kills can be traced to production of a unique polyketide toxin similar in structure to amphidinol. The toxin is made to assist in prey capture (i.e. cryptophytes) through formation of a nonspecific pore upon complexation with prey’s sterol brassicasterol. In collaboration with Mark Hamann at the University of Mississippi the complete absolute structure for one of the karlotoxins has been determined. These compounds have intriguing cholesterol binding properties which could be exploited in a variety of ways as a drug lead. 

To help aquaculture grow, Dr. Place and his team have developed plant protein based diets that contain no fish meal yet perform as well for producing protein to feed the 7 billion humans inhabiting our planet. Dr. Place has received several awards including the 2020 UMCES President’s Award for Excellence in Science Application and the 2008 USM Board of Regent’s Award for Excellence in Public Service. Dr. Place was Vice-Chairman for the June 2017 Gordon Research Conference, Mycotoxin and Phycotoxin and is Chair for the June 2019 Gordon Research Conference, Mycotoxin and Phycotoxin.

Cristina Tirado, DVM, PhD

Cristina Tirado works at the interface between science and policy related to climate change, food, health and sustainable development with WHO, FAO, UNEP, governments, NGOs and universities worldwide.  She has served as WHO Food Safety Regional Adviser in Europe (53 countries) and in Latin America (45 countries), as Coordinator of the WHO Food-borne Surveillance Program and Director of the Public Health Institute’s (PHI) Center for Climate Change and Health in California. Currently Dr. Tirado is affiliated with the UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability, she is Director of Global Programs at the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Center for Urban Resilience, and serves as policy adviser for several UN organizations. She chairs the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Task Force for Climate and Nutrition, moderates the UN Standing Committee of Nutrition group on Climate Change, and serves in the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Cities for Climate Change Consortium.

Dr. Tirado is a health, nutrition and gender equity advocate at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She has been a key partnerships' driver at Rio+20, contributing through the women’s major group to the high-level consultations for the sustainable development goals and 2030 agenda and currently to the high-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Dr. Tirado is the lead coordinating author of the UNEP/TEEB Agrifood Foundations Report; she has been a contributing author of the health chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and she has authored numerous research and policy publications and books. She is a DVM, with MS/PhD degrees in Environmental Sciences from Cornell University.

Amy Kircher, DrPH

Amy Kircher is the Director of the Food Protection and Defense Institute, a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence and an Assistant Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She leads the Institute’s initiatives and coordinates a research consortium of experts dedicated to protecting the food system through research and education. Her current research includes identification and warning of food disruptions and emerging disease through data fusion and analysis; supply chains; and delivery of innovative solutions to the professionals in the field. Additionally, she conducts research efforts on global health and pandemic preparedness leveraging expertise and technology that exists in the Institute.

Prior to coming to the University of Minnesota, Dr. Kircher was the Command epidemiologist with the NORAD – US Northern Command (N-NC) Office of the Command Surgeon. At N-NC she led disease surveillance, epidemiologic modeling, bioterrorism preparedness, and served as a public health expert. Dr. Kircher has an extensive background in Homeland Security Defense, supporting operations and response during national disasters to include Hurricane Katrina, and H1N1. She was awarded both the DOD Joint Civilian Service Commendation Medal and DOD Joint Civilian Service Achievement Medal for work at the Commands.

Dr. Kircher completed her Doctorate in Public Health at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Keith Warriner, PhD.

Dr. Keith Warriner is currently a Professor within the Department of Food Science at University of Guelph, Canada. He received his BSc in Food Science from the University of Nottingham, UK and a PhD in Microbial Physiology from the University College of Wales Aberystwyth, UK. Dr. Warriner later went on to work on biosensors within the University of Manchester, UK and subsequently returned to the University of Nottingham to become a Research Fellow in Food Microbiology. He joined the Faculty of the University of Guelph in 2002.

During the last fifteen years in the field of microbiology and food safety research, Dr. Warriner has published more than 100 papers, book chapters, patents, and conference abstracts. His research interests are focused on enhancing food safety within meat processing and the fresh cut sectors. To this end, his research team have advanced knowledge in the area of emerging pathogens, intervention technologies and development of biosensor devices to detection of foodborne hazards. Dr. Warriner was awarded the Agri-Food Innovation of Excellence for 2017. He is frequently contacted by the media to provide commentary on food safety issues and is the past President of the Ontario Food Protection Association.

Join us for this scientific session coordinated by ILSI North America!

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The 2018 ILSI Annual Meeting was a premiere gathering of scientists from around the world. The primary focus of the meeting was to learn about new food safety and nutrition science and identify areas where ILSI can have an impact on public health. This multidisciplinary meeting was an opportunity for experts from all sectors to collaborate and share knowledge. It included:

Scientific Sessions

Keynote Lectures

Branch Meetings

Networking Events

Scientific Program and Presentations

The Exposome: Challenges & Opportunities in the Study of Non-Communicable Diseases

January 21, 2018
8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Keynote presentation by Paul Elliott, PhD, Imperial College, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health will explore new insights into disease etiology and pathogenesis that can inform both lifestyle and preventative strategies.

Organized by ILSI North America

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It’s Coming, Ready or Not: Algorithms and Benefit-Cost Analysis

January 21, 2018
8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Keynote presentation by Richard Williams, PhD, George Mason University will focus on how developments in nutrition and science are impacting government and private sectors as well as personalization. 

Organized by ILSI North America

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Positive-Sum Governance

January 21, 2018
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Keynote presentation by Andrea E. Stumpf, J.D. Principal, Structured Partnerships. 

Organized by ILSI

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Advances in Health Based Decision Making

The purpose of this session is to educate the audience about the value of health-based assessments in decision-making in comparison with endpoint or hazard-based determinations.

Organized by ILSI North America

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New Advances: Diet and Microbiome

January 22, 2018
10:30 am - 12:30 pm

This session will examine the latest science on the diet and microbiome, including advances on application and intervention for appetite and eating behavior as well as new research on infant and fetal microbiome.

Organized by ILSI North America

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Threats to the Global Food Supply

January 22, 2018
2:00 pm - 5:40 pm

This session will examine new and emerging global threats to the food chain and system including impact on supply, process, security, agricultural practices, food safety and human health.

Organized by ILSI North America

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Carbohydrates Forum 2018: A Research Paradigm for Determining the Role of Fiber in Gut Barrier Health

January 22, 2018
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Presentation by Gary Wu, PhD, University of Pennsylvania will discuss how dietary fiber affects the various components of the gut microbiota.  

Organized by ILSI North America

Science Serving Society

January 23, 2018
8:00 am - 12:00 pm

The purpose of this session is to highlight specific programs that clearly demonstrate ILSI´s significant contributions to the theme, with an emphasis on multi-year, multi-partner programs with demonstrable impact.

Organized by ILSI

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The Intersection Between Food Sustainability and Health

January 23, 2018
8:00 am - 10:00 am

This session will examine the intersection of food sustainability and health, with a look at current practices, challenges and research gaps.

Organized by ILSI North America

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Water II – Water Management for the Future

January 23, 2018
10:00 am - 12:30 am

This session will examine new and emerging technologies related to water management (including regeneration, conservation, & efficiency improvement) and the impact of these approaches on short and long-term water management and human practice. This session builds off of Water I: Pursuing a Safe & Reliable Supply presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting.

Organized by ILSI North America

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Posters

View some of the posters presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting.

Why Attend

ILSI’s mission is to provide science that improves human health and well-being and safeguards the environment. There is no substitute for the in-person engagement that has come to define ILSI’s Annual Meetings. Each year, we join scientific colleagues from academia, government, industry, and civil society for state-of-the-science symposia, keynote lectures, networking events, and ILSI branch meetings. We look forward to doing so again at the 2019 Annual Meeting, scheduled for January 10-14, in Clearwater, Florida . 

Learning Opportunities
Get the latest research in personalized nutrition, food and water safety, sustainability, and risk assessment. The scientific program at the ILSI Annual Meetings is relevant for all experts in the food safety and nutrition community. 

Networking  
Nothing beats the value of interacting with colleagues in-person. ILSI brings scientific thought leaders together from all sectors, allowing for face-to-face discussion and collaboration to solve and identify some of the biggest challenges facing the food safety and nutrition community. 

Perspective
Attending ILSI Annual Meetings allows participants to take a step back and look at challenges in nutrition, food safety, and health through the viewpoint of colleagues that they don't engage with normally.

Leadership
Attending ILSI Annual Meetings allows participants to draw attention to challenges that not everyone is aware of.  It is a chance to connect with other experts and take a leadership role while using the resources and network provided by the unique ILSI platform.

Past Annual Meetings

View presentations from previous ILSI Annual Meetings:

2017

The 2017 ILSI Annual Meeting was held in La Jolla, California, USA January 20-25, 2017.

View the Presentations

2014

The 2014 ILSI Annual Meeting was held in Southampton, Bermuda
January 17-22, 2014.

View the Presentations

2016

The 2016 ILSI Annual Meeting was held in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA January 22-27, 2016.

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2013

The 2013 ILSI Annual Meeting was held in Miami, Florida, USA
January 18-23, 2013.

View the Presentations

2015

The 2015 ILSI Annual Meeting was held in Chandler, Arizona, USA January 16-21, 2015.

View the Presentations

2012

The 2012 ILSI Annual Meeting was held in Phoenix, Arizona, USA
January 20-25, 2012.

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At the 2018 ILSI Annual Meeting, ILSI North America is organizing a scientific session on New Advances: Diet and Microbiome. This session will examine the latest science on the diet and microbiome, including advances on application and intervention for appetite and eating behavior as well as new research on infant and fetal microbiome. 

Speakers

Cryan, J.

John Cryan, PhD

University College Cork

Davis, C

Cindy Davis, PhD

National Institutes of Health 

Presentation Video Kozyrskyj, A

Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD

University of Alberta

Presentation Video Liska, D

DeAnn Liska, PhD

Biofortis, Merieux NutriSciences

Matar, C.

Chantal Matar, PhD

University of Ottawa

Untitled 4

Gary Wu, PhD, MD

University of Pennsylvania

Presentation Video Agenda Abstracts Bios Agenda

Welcome and Introductions 
Co-Chairs: DeAnn Liska, PhD, Biofortis, Merieux NutriSciences and
Chantal Matar, PhD, University of Ottawa

State of the Science on Microbiota, Diet & Dietary Patterns 
Gary Wu, PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Case Examples on Application & Intervention

  • A Gut Feeling About the Brain: Diet, Microbiome & Behavior 
    John Cryan, PhD, University College Cork
  • Shaping the Gut Microbiome During Infancy
    Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD, University of Alberta

Workshop on Best Practices in Studies of Diet and the Intestinal Microbiome
Cindy Davis, PhD,  National Institutes of Health 

Abstracts

State of the Science on Microbiota, Diet & Dietary Patterns

Gary D. Wu, PhD, MD, Ferdinand G. Weisbrod Professor in Gastroenterology, Co-Director PennCHOP Microbiome Program, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The human gut contains a vast number of microorganisms known collectively as the “gut microbiota”. Despite its importance in maintaining the health of the host, growing evidence suggests the gut microbiota may also be an important factor in the pathogenesis of various diseases, a number of which have shown a rapid increase in incidence over the past few decades. In some of these diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the microbiota is “dysbiotic” with an altered community structure and decrease in diversity. If the dysbiotic microbiota plays a role in disease pathogenesis, interventions that modify its composition might be a strategy to treat certain disease processes. The composition of the microbiota can be influenced by many factors including age, genetics, host environment, and diet. Diet has an impact upon both the composition and function of the microbiota in part through small molecule production that may influence the development of both immune-mediated and metabolic diseases. There are a number of ways by which this interaction can be exploited to promote human health including the use of gut microbiome composition to develop personalized diets for the treatment of metabolic syndrome, protect mucus barrier function in the intestinal tract, and as a modality to treat immunologically based diseases such as IBD. In total, there is growing evidence supporting the notion that the dietary manipulation of the gut microbiota and its metabolome can be used as a modality to both maintain health and treat disease. In order to accomplish this goal, there is a need for human intervention studies to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships.

A Gut Feeling about the Brain: Diet, Microbiome & Behavior

John F. Cryan, PhD, APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

The brain-gut-microbiota axis is emerging as a research area of increasing interest for those investigating the biological and physiological basis of brain development and behaviour across the lifespan. A growing body of evidence supports the role of this microbiota in influencing host appetite and food intake. The routes of communication between the gut and brain include the vagus nerve, the immune system, tryptophan metabolism, via the enteric nervous system or by way of microbial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids. These mechanisms also impinge on neuroendocrine function at multiple levels. Studies in animal models have been key in delineating that neurodevelopment and the programming of an appropriate stress response is dependent on the microbiota. Developmentally, a variety of factors can impact the microbiota in early life including mode of birth delivery, antibiotic exposure, mode of nutritional provision, infection, stress as well as host genetics.  At the other extreme of life, individuals who age with considerable ill health tend to show narrowing in microbial diversity. Stress can significantly impact the microbiota-gut-brain axis at all stages across the lifespan. Moreover, fundamental brain processes from adult hippocampal neurogenesis to myelination to microglia activation have been shown to be regulated by the microbiome. A growing body of evidence indicates that there is a crucial role for the microbiota in regulating different aspects of eating-related behaviour, as well as behavioural comorbidities of eating and metabolic disorders. Finally, studies examining the translation of these effects from animals to humans are currently ongoing. Further studies will focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying such brain effects and developing nutritional and microbial-based intervention strategies.

Shaping the Gut Microbiome During Infancy

Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD, Professor, Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Established during infancy, our complex gut microbial community is shaped by medical interventions and societal preferences, such as cesarean section, formula-feeding and antibiotic use. The SyMBIOTA (Synergy in Microbiota) research program aims to quantify age-specific and longitudinal changes in gut microbial composition during infancy following the most common birth and postnatal events affecting infant gut microbial composition. Gut microbiota profiles of full-term infants in the general population Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development birth cohort were obtained using 16S high-throughput gene sequencing. At 3 months of age, depletion of Bacteroidetes and enrichment of Firmicutes (genera Clostridium and Enterococcus) was observed in the infant gut following cesarean delivery and maternal antibiotic prophylaxis during vaginal birth. Fewer changes were detected at 1 year of age, largely among infants who were not exclusively breastfed for at least 3 months. From 3 months to 1 year of age, well-known patterns of microbial phyla succession in later infancy (declining Proteobacteria; increasing Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes) following vaginal birth, breastfeeding and no antibiotic exposure. Genus Lactobacillus, Roseburia and Faecalibacterium species appeared in the top 10 increases to microbial abundance in these infants. Deviations from this pattern were evident among infants with birth and postnatal interventions; notably, the largest number of microbial species with unchanged abundance was seen in gut microbiota following early cessation of breastfeeding in infants. Gut microbiota of infants born vaginally and exclusively formula-fed became less enriched with family Veillonellaceae and Clostridiaceae, showed unchanging levels of Ruminococcaceae and exhibited a greater decline in the Rikenellaceae/ Bacteroideceae ratio compared to their breastfed, vaginally-delivered counterparts. These changes were also evident in cesarean-delivered infants to a lesser extent. The clinical relevance of these trajectories of microbial change is that they culminate in taxon-specific abundances in the gut microbiota of later infancy, which we and others have observed to be associated with food sensitization and overweight.

Workshop on Best Practices in Studies of Diet and the Intestinal Microbiome

Cindy D. Davis, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Christopher J. Lynch, Robert W. Karp and David M. Klurfeld

Many studies of the intestinal microbiome, whether in vitro, in animal models, or in humans report only minimal information about dietary composition despite substantial evidence that diet modulates microbial composition. ILSI North America and USDA sponsored a two-day workshop that was organized by NIH and USDA. This workshop brought together 16 scientific experts to discuss the role of diet in modifying the human gastrointestinal microbiome. The purpose of the workshop was to improve rigor and reproducibility in research on the gastrointestinal microbiome, identify important dietary information that should be reported, and parameters to consider when designing studies on diet and the intestinal microbiome. For all types of studies, strengths and weaknesses of various designs were emphasized and for human studies, comparisons between controlled feeding and observational designs were discussed.  The participants concluded that there are few clearly established best practices for the design of studies on the intestinal microbiome in which diet is a main variable. Moreover, in the absence of clearly superior dietary approaches for specific research questions, the main recommendation is to present dietary information in as much detail as possible so that other researchers can reproduce the work. This emerging field needs to move from associations to causality which will be catalyzed by knowing in as much detail as possible what is ingested, how it is metabolized, and the health consequences derived from these processes.

Bios

DeAnn Liska, PhD

DeAnn Liska is the Senior Director of Nutrition Science & Biostatistics at Biofortis - Mérieux NutriSciences, where she leads the team responsible for scientific consultation, design, and interpretation of clinical trials and literature assessments. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the nutrition industry with past leadership roles at Kellogg’s, Ocean Spray, and Metagenics. Dr. Liska holds a PhD in biochemistry (University of Wisconsin) and was an Assistant Research Professor in biochemistry at the University of Washington prior to joining industry. She is a member ILSI North America’s Food, Nutrition & Safety Program (FNSP) Leadership Program, and is on the scientific advisory panels for the Council for Responsible Nutrition and Cornell Division of Nutritional Sciences. Dr. Liska has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and is co-inventor on 12 patents.

Chantal Matar PhD, RD                                                         

Dr. Chantal Matar is a professor at the School of Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa. She obtained her PhD in Food Sciences and Technology from Laval University and completed a Dietetic Internship at Ottawa Hospital. Dr. Matar’s expertise is focused on in vivo assessing of functional foods, probiotics and microbiome in chemoprevention of cancer by controlling cancer stem cells and microRNAs. She is an established investigator with proven track record of supervising highly qualified personnel. Dr. Matar has authored more than 110 communications, including 50 referred papers, book chapters, and patent applications. She was successful in acquiring research funding from different research agencies. In 2014, Dr. Matar received the Best Research Award from Trade and Industry Ministry in Japan and in 2008, an International Union for Cancer Control research fellowship for visiting scientist at WHO.

Gary Wu, PhD, MD

Dr. Wu is the Ferdinand G. Weisbrod Professor in Gastroenterology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he is the Associate Chief for Research in the Division of Gastroenterology, the Associate Director of the Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Disease, and the Co-Director of the PennCHOP Microbiome Program. He was the inaugural Director and Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the American Gastroenterological Association's Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education and is currently a member of the Governing Board as the Basic Research Councillor. Dr. Wu is an elected member of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Research programs in the Wu laboratory focus on the mutualistic interactions between the gut microbiota and its host with a particular emphasis on metabolism including nitrogen balance, intestinal oxygen regulation, and epithelial intermediary metabolism. Of particular interest is the effect of diet on the gut microbiome and its relationship to therapeutic responses associated with the use of defined formula diets in the treatment of Crohn’s disease. Insights gained from these projects will hopefully lead to the development of better diets for patients with IBD.

As a former member of the NIDDK-C committee and its Chairman in 2007, Dr. Wu is cognizant of the need to foster the careers of young investigators including those in the field of Gastroenterology. Dr. Wu has been the Associate Director of The University of Pennsylvania Training Program in Gastrointestinal Sciences (T32 DK0706) since 1997, member of the GI Fellowship Committee at Penn, and a member of the Scholarly Oversight Committee at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In this capacity, he has been actively involved in the career development of many GI fellows in the physician-scientist track at Penn. In addition to over two dozen graduate students, post-docs, medical students, and residents that he has mentored over the years, Dr. Wu has specifically mentored nine GI fellows since joining the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. He is proud of the fact that nearly all of these individuals are full time faculty members at academic medical centers.

John F. Cryan, PhD

John F. Cryan is Professor & Chair of the Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience at the University College Cork, Ireland and is also a Principal Investigator at the APC Microbiome Institute. Prof. Cryan's current research is focused on understanding the interaction between brain, gut & microbiome and how it applies to stress, psychiatric and immune-related disorders at key time-windows across the lifespan. Prof. Cryan has published over 400 articles and is co-author of the forthcoming “The Psychobiotic Revolution: Mood, Food, and the New Science of the Gut-Brain Connection” from National Geographic Press. He has received numerous awards including UCC Researcher of the Year in 2012; the University of Utrecht Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Research in 2013 and being named on the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher list in 2014. He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2017. In that year he also received a Research Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterology Association and the Tom Connor Distinguished Scientist Award from Neuroscience Ireland. He was a TEDMED speaker in 2014 and is currently President of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society.

Anita Kozyrskyj, PhD

Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta, has expertise in epidemiological research using population-based birth cohort studies, including the CHILD (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development) birth cohort. Her current research focuses on early-life programming of childhood atopic disease and overweight by the infant gut microbiome, as influenced by birth method, infant diet and antibiotic use during pregnancy, birth and infancy. Dr. Kozyrskyj has MS and PhD degrees in community health sciences from the University of Manitoba.

Cindy D. Davis, PhD

Cindy Davis is the Director of Grants and Extramural Activities in the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). In this position, she actively engages and encourages partnerships with other NIH Institutes and Centers to facilitate funding of grants that are of high relevance to ODS mission and goals. Dr. Davis is also actively involved in a number of government working groups on the microbiome. Before coming to ODS, she was a Program Director in the Nutritional Sciences Research Group at the National Cancer Institute. Cindy received her bachelor’s degree with honors in nutritional sciences from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and her doctorate degree in nutrition with a minor in human cancer biology from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Dr. Davis completed her postdoctoral training at the Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute.  She then joined the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA, as a research nutritionist.  In 2000, Dr. Davis received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and was named the USDA Early Career Scientist.  She has published more than 125 peer-reviewed journal articles and eleven invited book chapters. She is a supplement editor for Journal of Nutrition, assistant editor for Nutrients, assistant editor for Nutrition Reviews and a member of the editorial board for Advances in Nutrition.

Join us for this scientific session coordinated by ILSI North America!

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