UNC Microbiome Core

🚀 Launching a new seminar series on the statistical & bioinformatics analysis of microbiome data!

Feb 20 | 2 PM at Bioinformatics Bldg, Rm 1131

Opening talk:
“Background on 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing Data Sets and Data Analysis”

#Microbiome #Bioinformatics

🎉 Our first FFMS of the Spring semester is coming!

🗓 Fri, Feb 6 | 🕛 12 PM
📍 Marsico Hall 7004 + Zoom
🎤 Orlando Arguello-Miranda (NC State): Generative AI & Microbiome Imaging
🌱 Trainee talks + 🍕 pizza!

🔗 Zoom: zoom.us/j/99259726129

Had the best time at our UNC Microbiome Core year-end gathering tonight! 💙✨

We had an amazing potluck feast and a chaotic, hilarious white elephant exchange.

Wishing you all a cozy winter break, and excited for another year of discoveries, collaboration, and good vibes ahead.

Our last FFMS seminar of the semester is this Friday at 12 pm! 🎉
Join us for talks by Bai Li, PhD and Olivia Maurer, PhD candidate, covering urban wastewater microbiomes and infant gut HMO processing.
📍 Marsico Hall 2004 + Zoom
🍕 Pizza provided!
#FFMS #microbiome

Thrilled to share that Yunan Hu just passed her PhD Qualifying Exam! 🎉

🌟 Welcome our new BBSP rotation student, Inhwan Choi! Originally from Suwon, South Korea, Inhwan is a first-year grad student at UNC studying gut microbiota and intestinal immunity. He’s developing a mucus model to explore prebiotic effects on the gut barrier. 🧫🧠

We were thrilled to attend ASM-NC 2025 in Greensboro, where we presented our latest work on co-cultures of Lactobacillus responding to different carbohydrates. 🎉

A huge congratulations to Nehal for winning the Best Poster Award! 🙌

Thanks everyone (Yunan, Abe, Amy) who contribute to this project!

Join us for the First Friday Microbiome Seminar #FFMS
📅 Nov 7, 12 PM | Marsico Hall 2004 + Zoom: zoom.us/j/95873962698

Talks by Dr. Folami Ideraabdullah (UNC) on diet × microbiome × sex effects & Özge Kuddar (NCSU) on bias in microbiome analysis.

🍕 Pizza served!

📢 First Friday Microbiome Seminar (Oct 3, 12pm, Marsico 2004 + Zoom)!

Talks by:
🔹 Amanda Nelson, PhD – microbiome & osteoarthritis in humans + dogs
🔹 Ourania Raftopoulou – CRISPR in Bifidobacterium lactis

🍕 Pizza will be served. Hope to see you all!
#FFMS

Nivi represented UNC Microbiome Core at the 2025 MAD SSCi Annual Conference, hosted by VCU Massey Cancer Center. We shared our services, learned from fellow core directors, and explored new ways to collaborate & promote science in our community. #Microbiome #Cores

"The Assembly, Evolution, and Clinical Implications of the Gut Microbiota in Early Life" With Daniel Sprockett, PhD, MSc | Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease

If anyone happens to be around UNC Chapel Hill this week, I'll be speaking on Tuesday: www.med.unc.edu/cgibd/event/... @microbiomeunc.bsky.social #microbiome

First Friday Seminar is back 🎉
📍 Marsico Hall 2004 + Zoom
🗓️ Fri Sept 5, 12 pm
Talks on microbes, fear circuits & gut metabolites!
🍕 Pizza served
🔗 zoom.us/j/97951195489

#Microbiome #UNC

Had a great undergrad lab meeting today 🎉
Our team shared their work on the Lactobacillus–nutrient response project — from growth curves to qPCR, chemical assays, and knockouts.

So proud of how much they’ve grown, and it’s amazing to see how collaboration makes the whole project stronger! 💡🧫

Alongside with Angela, Nehal, Amy, and Abe, we now have four amazing undergraduate students in the lab this semester.

Here’s to more curiosity, collaboration, and discovery!

We’re also welcoming Nehal Devpura back!
Nehal first joined us in her junior and is now a senior student from Nutrition department, studying Nutrition Science & Research on the pre-med track.

Nehal is continuing her Lactobacillus fluorescence project and bringing even more energy to the lab!

New semester, new faces at UNC Microbiome Core!
We’re welcoming Angela Sofia Molina to the lab this fall. Angela is a junior in Nutrition Science & Research, fascinated by how the gut microbiome impacts human health and GI diseases.

See more in 🧵

We had a fantastic time at the Gordon Research Conference on Lactic Acid Bacteria 2025 last week!

It was a great opportunity to connect, share science, and get inspired.

Shoutout to Yunan Hu for being elected co-chair of GRS 2027 🎉

Grateful to be part of such an amazing community!

Join us for First Friday Microbiome Seminar in June!
📅June 6 |🕚11am |📍Marsico Hall 2004

We have two speakers:
Dr. Benjamin Parker @ben-parker.bsky.social (UNC Biology), and Dr. Abigail Shahar Gancz (postdoc fellow at NCSU)

Come and join us in person on June 6!

#FMT #HostMicrobe #Lipidomics #FFMS

Today is World Digestive Health Day！
As we continue to uncover the links between the gut microbiota and human health, its clear that supporting a healthy microbiome is key to long-term health.
Let’s celebrate our digestive system and the microbial communities that help keep it running. #WDHD2025

We had a great time today at the NC Microbiome Symposium! So many inspiring talks and meaningful conversations. It was wonderful to reconnect with familiar faces and meet new ones who share a passion for microbiome science.

Let’s continue working together to advance microbiome research!
#Microbiome

We had a sweet celebration during this week’s lab meeting — congratulations to our wonderful graduate student Yunan on her recent marriage!

Thank you to everyone who helped make it special, especially for the delicious homemade cake.

Wishing Yunan all the best in this exciting new chapter!

#AGS2025 in Chicago!

Our MD trainee Madelyn Bullard (Claire) presented her poster at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting, showcasing her research on how GOS supplementation influences gut microbiota composition and function in lactose-intolerant adults over 55.

Great job, Claire!

Trainee Microbiome Club Speaker: Nona Hashemi
PhD Candidate, Nanoengineering, North Carolina A&T State University

Nona’s innovative work explores engineered microbial biofilms as next-generation platforms for disease detection and therapeutic delivery.

Dr. Lisa Karstens, PhD
Associate Professor, Oregon Health & Science University.
Dr. Karstens specializes in microbiome bioinformatics and women’s health, with NIH-funded research advancing our understanding of bladder disorders through integrative microbiome and cohort data analysis.

Join us for First Friday Microbiome Seminar (Virtual!) in May

Friday, May 2 | 11am–12pm ET
Zoom: zoom.us/j/93402286233
ID: 934 0228 6233

See Speakers information in threads 🧵

#FFM #Microbiome #BladderMicrobiome #Biofilms #MicrobiomeResearch

Thank you!

We gathered today to celebrate a major milestone for our clinical trial on how prebiotics influence human gut health!
Huge thanks to everyone who contributed their time and effort to make this possible.
Grateful for the teamwork-onward to data analysis and bringing this project to the finish line!

Our talented undergrad Weston from the UNC Biology Department just presented his poster on designing qPCR primers to quantify bacterial consortia abundance in C. difficile mice. Fantastic work and well-deserved recognition—great job, Weston!

Microbial dipeptidyl peptidases of the S9B family as host-microbe isozymes Human and gut microbial dipeptidyl peptidases and their influence on physiological processes and health outcomes are decoded.

Just published!
Our lab explore the gut microbial side of a well-known human enzyme DPP-4.

While hDPP-4 is a major target in diabetes treatment, its microbial counterparts (mDPP-4) remain understudied. We dive into mDPP-4 structure and function.

Congrats Mashael!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The 2024 UNC School of Medicine Annual Report is here! Congratulations to our incredible research community and thank you for your dedication to advancing medical research.

Read more in the latest OoR Newsletter: www.med.unc.edu/oor/wp-conte...