Gut-feelings
The food we eat shapes the structure and function of microbes in our gut. Furthermore, the gut microbiota influences our health and behaviour. We aim to uncover the basic biology of how food components impact our health and behaviour via the microbiota gut-brain axis, and establish a mammalian model for modulating brain health via the gut.
Stress & depression
Major depressive disorders (MDDs) are among the most common mental disorders in society, yet we do not fully understand its mechanism and causation. Chronic stress is a major environmental risk determinant of depression, and in recent years it has been found that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota has been associated with clinical depression. Our key questions are: How does chronic stress alter the microbiome? Could we reverse the effects of clinical depression by interventions to the gut microbiota?
