Obesity is a growing worldwide health epidemic that is placing ever-growing medical and economic burdens on society. The prevalence of the associated condition non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is also rising, and this condition is now the leading cause of chronic liver disease in the West. As a result of the multifaceted nature of these diseases and the lack of mechanistic understanding of their molecular underpinnings, doctors must resort to “trial and error” to identify effective treatments. The goal of this research is to develop small molecules that modulate gut bacterial metabolism of bile acids, compounds that play crucial roles in human metabolism, as new potential treatments for metabolic syndrome and NAFLD. These first-in-class molecules that target the microbiota will also allow us to better understand how the human microbiome contributes to obesity on a molecular level, knowledge that will pave the way for the development of future microbiome-based therapies.
Funding
Funding Duration
July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019