BATS

Date/Time:

Nov 20, 2020 - 12:00 PM

Location:

Hosts:

Bevin Engelward

Speaker:

Title:

Engineering Probiotics for the Modulation of Bile Acid Metabolism

Abstract:

The gut microbiota synthesize hundreds of metabolites that influence host physiology. Among these metabolites, bile acids are highly abundant and regulate essential host processes. Given the close interplay between bile acids and host physiology, several disease states are associated with the dysregulation of bile acid pools. We propose to develop engineered probiotic bacteria that reconstitute and modulate bile acid biosynthesis in the gut, thereby facilitating bile acid host-interaction studies and therapeutic efforts.

Speaker:

Title:

Small Animal fMRI Biofeedback

Abstract:

Neurobiofeedback is a closed-loop process in which neural signals are used to generate feedback, typically resulting in the modulation of the said neural signals. This process usually relies on fast but spatially restrained readout of brain activity, such as electrode recordings. To ameliorate the limitations in spatial coverage found in conventional neurobiofeedback systems, we utilize fMRI as the mode of neural signal readout, and demonstrate a proof of concept use of fMRI in programmable, small animal neurobiofeedback systems.