BCAS faculty Laura Rupprecht, Ph.D., received two pilot grants. She and her lab were awarded the UNC Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NORC) pilot and feasibility program award and the Center for Gastrointestinal and Bowel Disease pilot and feasibility contest award. Projects will focus on how diet and obesity impact gut-brain communication, focusing on a specialized sensory cell in the intestinal epithelium. The lab aims to define if these gut sensory systems can be leveraged to restore food reward and motivation in diet-induced obesity.
Dr. Rupprecht, an assistant professor of pharmacology, joined the BCAS in 2025.