© Heiko Barg
The A11 Team, from left to right: Ben, Yazhou, Carolin, Simon and Jan
A11:
The project is situated at the nexus of diet, microbiome biology, and liver health, investigating a broad spectrum of nutrients and their potential impact on liver health.
The approach is multifaceted: Large multi-omics datasets are utilized to investigate the association of nutritional changes with liver disease development. Our hypothesis is that these changes might be driven by alterations in gut microbiota. In addition to biostatistical research, we are leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to analyze and interpret our data and develop machine learning models to predict the impact of nutritional changes on the gut microbiome and, consequently, on liver health.
In this project we will address the following key questions:
- How do nutritional habits affect development of liver diseases?
- Are nutritional changes that protect from liver disease associated with VLDL metabolism?
- Do these nutrients cause changes in the gut microbiota that might explain the effect on liver disease development?
- Are the identified microbial patterns predictive of liver disease development in population-based cohorts?
Our integrated approach,will provide comprehensive insights into the relationship between nutrients, microbiome, liver diseases, and plasma lipoprotein metabolism. Our data will likely contribute to the identification of therapeutic targets, thereby utilizing the gut-liver axis as a preventative tool.
We invite you to join us on this exciting scientific journey and become part of our Team!