Medicine Grand Rounds – Dr. Thomas Keyserling and Professor Katie Meyer presents “The Impact of Dietary Patterns on the Gut Microbiome and on Chronic Disease Risk.”

Dr. Keyserling is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health.

He has been the PI or a major contributor to multiple randomized clinical trials conducted in primary care and community settings evaluating behavioral interventions to prevent or reduce morbidity from chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. These trials have included interventions given by physicians at primary care practices, nurses at county health departments, nutritionists and peer counselors at churches, health counselors at community health centers and health departments, and peer counselors recruited from the community. More recently, these studies have included web-based versions of the intervention. The interventions have focused on reducing the risk of heart disease, reducing the risk for cancer, and helping participants lose weight. All of these studies have enrolled low SES and minority patients, many of them residing in eastern NC. As a part of recent studies, he has worked with a team to develop and test a Mediterranean-style dietary intervention adapted for the southeastern US, subsequently named Med-South. In addition to research activities, Dr. Keyserling is an active primary care internist.

Dr. Katie Meyer is a nutritional and cardiovascular disease epidemiologist. Her research focuses on diet-related health behaviors and nutritional risk factors for cardiometabolic disease. She is the recent recipient of a Research Scientist Development Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to study the gut microbiome, nutrient metabolites, and cardiovascular disease in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA).