A big congratulations to Dr. Kasey Schalich, currently a postdoctoral researcher in David Mills' lab in the Department of Food Science and Technology, who has won the Global Prebiotic Association's Young Researcher Award for Fundamental/Primary Research in their 5th Annual Global Prebiotic Association Researcher Grant.
Dr. Schalich received the award for her research during her first postdoctoral position as a T32 fellow with Dr. Fang Yan at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (2021-2023). Her research, published last year in the journal mBio, explores how 2′-fucosyllactose (2′-FL), the most abundant human milk oligosaccharide, prevents intestinal inflammation in adulthood by modulating gut microbial metabolism. Her study revealed that 2′-FL promotes the growth of beneficial Bifidobacterium, which produces pantothenate (vitamin B5) to protect the intestinal barrier from inflammation and injury. This discovery uncovers a novel mechanism for 2′-FL’s protective effects and suggests its potential relevance to address dysregulated microbial metabolism in conditions like ulcerative colitis, advancing our understanding of prebiotics’ role in gut health.
Dr. Schalich earned her Ph.D. from Cornell University in Dr. Vimal Selvaraj’s laboratory (2020). She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis, working in David Mills’ laboratory, where she is co-mentored by Dr. Ameer Taha and Dr. Daniela Barile. On this interdisciplinary and collaborative research team, her current research explores how the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), derived from an abundant dairy co-product, may regulate gut microbial physiology to promote cognitive function through the gut-brain axis, with applications to promote neurodevelopment in infancy and prevent cognitive decline in aging.
Last year, Dr. Schalich was also selected as a UC Davis IIFH Innovator Fellow, where she spent nine months embedded with the venture capital firm Radicle Growth to explore the intersection of science and entrepreneurship. This unique experience, coupled with her deep research domain expertise, equipped her with the skills to strategically translate her team’s prebiotic discoveries from the lab into commercially viable innovations aimed at advancing human health. She specializes in the intersection of nutrition, gut microbe function, and host health and is passionate about applying food as medicine to improve human health and well-being.