UC Davis Partners with the University of Sydney for International Workshop
The Food Security and Food Innovation Workshop was a two-day event organized by UC Davis in collaboration with the University of Sydney with the purpose of bringing together scientists from all over the world to discuss areas of potential research collaboration to address issues of global food security and create innovative food solutions.
The two-day event included projects focusing on different areas of the microbiome such as the gut microbiome, soil microbiome, host-pathogen interactions in aquaculture, evolutionary genetics of managed animal populations and food safety/handling.
International participants included:
- University of Sydney, Australia
- University of São Paulo, Brazil
- Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
- University of Canterbury, New Zealand
- Montpellier University of Excellence (MUSE), France
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
- University College Dublin, Ireland
- University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Some of the many presentations discussing microbiomes included:
University of Sydney
Dr. Catherine Grueber, a Robinson Fellow at the University of Sydney, discussed that the microbiome of captive animals were less diverse, but diversity and composition quickly changed upon release. Her lab is focusing on mammals and birds and uses techniques such as multiomic studies of model species, meta-analysis and computational projections, and population genetics of threatened species. Dr. Grueber is further interested in projecting the long-term impacts of dietary change, building resilience in agricultural species and improved conservation of threatened species.
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Dr. Daniel Garrido, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, discussed his interests in the gut microbiome and engineering applications in food and health. One of the current projects his lab is working on is how small bacterial communities respond to dietary changes, such as in a a transition from fructooligosaccharides to 2-fucosyl lactose, simulating breast milk.
University of Sydney
Dr. Andrew Holmes, a professor at the University of Sydney, presented his work discussing the role of gut microbial diversity in human health, and integrating lifestyle/diet, microbiome and host physiology to understand multifactorial chronic disease. His lab's overall ambition is to identify fundamental rules for how the nutrient environment drives the biological system.
For more details, see article by Lisa Howard at the Office of Research.
If you would like to learn more about the UC Davis-University of Sydney partnership, please contact Ana Lucia Cordova at anacordova@ucdavis.edu.
Contact
- Ana Lucia Cordova, Office of Research, anacordova@ucdavis.edu
- Jose Franco, Microbiome Special Research Program, jlfranco@ucdavis.edu
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