Research Summary
Dr. Azcarate-Peril is the director of the UNC Microbiome Core. The Core was a CCGIBD core during a prior funding cycle but has subsequently been spun off as a stand-alone core. Her research program is focused on understanding how prebiotics and probiotics, which are beneficial modulators of the gut microbiota, provide health benefits to the host by preventing and improving disease outcomes. Her group has demonstrated the positive effects of prebiotics and probiotics on the gut microbiome, intestinal homeostasis, and cognitive function.
During the early years of her professional career, she acquired substantial expertise in microbiology and bacterial physiology and, later, functional genomics with a focus on probiotic bacteria and their impact on gut physiology.
CGIBD Focus Area(s): Microbiome
Collaborators: Carroll, Fodor, Magness, Sartor, Steinbach, Redinbo, Tamayo
