Maria Marco
Professor Marco’s team is investigating the ecology and molecular genetics of beneficial bacteria associated with plant surfaces and mammalian digestive tracts. Organisms of particular interest in the Marco lab are Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) found in plant and gut environments. LAB are important for the production of (fermented) food products and specific strains are currently being applied as probiotics to deliver health benefits in the human gut. This lab aims to understand the molecular adaptations and activities of LAB in the context of the indigenous plant and gut microbiota to improve food production and maintain human health.
Bruce Taillon
Andrew Gewirtz
Andrew Gewirtz, university center professor at Georgia State University, specializes in research on innate immunity, microbiome, intestinal inflammation and obesity/diabetes. Inflammation plays a central role in many disease states, and his goal is to understand the normal mechanisms by which pro-inflammatory signals protect against microbes and discern how they go awry in disease states. His primary area of focus is on the intestinal epithelium.
Gewirtz earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston University School of Medicine.
David Sela
David Sela is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science. Moreover he holds an adjunct appointment in the Dept. of Microbiology and Dept. of Microbiology and Physiological Systems at the UMass Medical School. Dr. Sela’s research is focused on the mechanisms by which breast milk molecules direct the population structure, and often function, of microbiota that colonize the infant gastrointestinal tract. Dr. Sela joined UMass Amherst after conducting postdoctoral research with David Mills in the Foods for Health Institute at University of California, Davis and David Relman at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Professor Michelle McGuire
Shelley McGuire received her BS in biology from the University of Illinois (1986), an MS in nutritional sciences from the University of Illinois (1988), and a PhD in human nutrition from Cornell University (1994). Her research focuses primarily on understanding better how maternal dietary intake and nutritional status influence breast health, milk composition, and duration of postpartum amenorrhea.
Jo Sliman
From January 13, 2014 until January 17, 2017, Dr. Sliman served as the Company’s Senior Vice President-Clinical & Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Sliman has more than 18 years of experience in clinical and public health research, including 10 years directing clinical projects and product development, in therapeutic areas such as infectious diseases and vaccines. From September 2012 until January 2014, Dr. Sliman served as Senior Medical Director and Head of Patient Safety and Pharmacovigilance at Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he directed efforts for a New Drug Application for HETLIOZ (tasimelteon), which is indicated for the treatment of Non-24 Hour Disorder in totally blind adults. From December 2008 until August 2012, Dr. Sliman served as Medical Director in Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at MedImmune, Inc., where he was a member of successful Biologics Licensure Application teams. Prior to joining MedImmune, Inc., he served as Associate Medical Director at Dynport Vaccine Company, where he was the clinical director for seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine trials as well as its Defense Vaccines development program (partnered with Department of Defense Joint Vaccines Acquisition Program). During his service in the United States Navy, Dr. Sliman led the U. S. Pacific Fleet disease surveillance programs, including influenza surveillance, preparedness, and prevention, as well as communicable disease and injury surveillance and prevention and health policy development. Dr. Sliman earned an M.D. from the Uniformed Services University, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and a B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology, with Honors in Biology, from Pennsylvania State University.
Professor Andreas Bäumler
Gregory Buck
Josie Ni
Josie was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and grew up in Chicago. She received her undergraduate education from University of California, Berkley, and attended Medical School at Northwestern University. Josie did her Residency at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, where she was selected as the curriculum Chief Resident, charged with creating a formal program curriculum.
Susan Lynch
Research in the Lynch laboratory addresses key areas of human microbiome research:
• Early-life microbiome assembly
• Community perturbation and reassembly
• Relationships between microbiome composition, function and chronic immune activation
• Development of rationally designed novel microbiome-based therapeutics
• The gut-airway axis