Statistical Bioinformatics Seminar Series: Stanislawski

Title: The gut microbiota and weight loss: Results from a weight loss intervention of
daily caloric restriction versus intermittent fasting 

Speaker: Dr Maggie Stanislawski (University of Colorado) 

Abstract: Altered gut microbiota has been linked to obesity and may influence weight
loss.  In this presentation, I will present findings from a study examining the gut
microbiota of participants during a weight loss intervention trial of daily caloric
restriction (DCR) versus intermittent fasting (IMF).  After three months of this
intervention, participants experienced significant improvements in clinical health
measures, along with altered composition and diversity of fecal microbiota.  I will
discuss the associations between gut microbiota characteristics and changes in clinical
measures during the intervention, such as weight and waist circumference.  These initial
analyses also show differences between DCR and IMF participants in the relative
abundance of the genus-level taxon of Akkermansia in response to the interventions.  I
will also discuss current and ongoing work to extend these results to include data from
the full year-long intervention, as well as 6-months post intervention, and to
understand the roles of metabolomics, host genetics, and DNA methylation.  Our results
provide insight into how omic profiles respond to a weight loss intervention, and how
they relate to weight loss responsiveness.  

About the speaker: Maggie Stanislawski is a molecular epidemiologist at the University
of Colorado School of Medicine, and her work aims to understand the role of the gut
microbiome and related molecular profiles in health and disease, specifically obesity,
cardiometabolic disease and inflammatory conditions.  Before completing her PhD in
Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, Dr.  Stanislawski completed her
bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Pomona College and a master’s degree in
Statistics at Colorado State University.