Although she’s not an entomologist, Maggie Stanislawski, PhD, spends hours a day studying bugs. The assistant professor of biomedical informatics specializes in the gut microbiome, an environment swimming with trillions of microscopic creatures in every person’s digestive tract.
Pairing her science with a passion for population health, Stanislawski has her sights set on finding ways to manipulate those bugs – from parasites and fungi to bacteria and viruses – so that they assist with weight loss.
“There's good evidence that the microbiome plays a role in weight loss in animal models, but humans are just much more complicated to study,” Stanislawski said.
Key points:
- Strong evidence suggests the microbiome plays a role in weight loss and maintenance in animals. Whether that’s true in humans is a growing research focus.
- CU Anschutz scientists are analyzing data from one of the largest human studies to look at intermittent fasting’s effects on the microbiome.
- This research could help scientists develop microbiome-targeting therapies that ease dieting struggles and help lower the obesity health burden.
Stanislawski is, however, capturing some promising preliminary data in one of the largest human studies to date looking at the gut microbiota during intermittent fasting (IMF). The ancillary study is part of a colleague’s research published this spring (DRIFT) comparing the widely popular dieting approach to traditional daily calorie restriction (DCR).
That parent study found for the first time a statistically significant increase in weight loss in an IMF group compared with a DCR group, opening a window for Stanislawski and colleagues to analyze differences in microbiota responses.
Science has already made a clear link between altered gut microbiota and obesity in humans, said Stanislawski, who combined a math and statistics background with a doctorate in epidemiology from the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz.
“Now if we could understand how microbiomes affect weight loss in humans, we might be able to target the microbiomes to help people lose weight and maintain that weight loss.” Stanislawski shared more about her recent study and the diet and microbiome relationship below.