Informal Seminar - Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown

"Changing the Gut Microbiome Improves Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms"

Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown is the director of a the Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes (HTM). She is a pioneer in interventions that target the microbiome. Dr. Krajmalnik-Brown published the first paper describing gut microbial ecology differences between normal weight, obese, and patients that underwent gastric by-pass surgery. She has also researched how gut microbial ecology relates to autism and related gastrointestinal complications, and recently worked on developing Microbiota Transplant Therapy (MTT) for autism with a focus in how treatment affects the microbiome, gastrointestinal symptoms, and behavior. In the environmental biotechnology field, her group has identified and developed genomic-based biomarkers currently used to assess bioremediation potential, progress and success. Dr. Krajmalnik-Brown has over 25 years of experience performing microbial ecology analysis using advanced genomic-based approaches and has been involved in highly translational projects that assess and describe complex microbial ecosystems and specifically interesting microbial interactions. She has successfully applied this approach for dechlorinating systems, hydrogen dark fermentation, microbial electrochemical systems, and anaerobic digestion of vegetables and fruits. Dr. Krajmalnik-Brown will present her work on microbiome-based treatments for autism.