News Blog - 2017
November 27, 2017
Manuscript accepted in Analyst
Our manuscript "Screening Natural Libraries of Human Milk Oligosaccharides
Against Lectins Using CaR-ESI-MS" has been accepted for publication in the journal Analyst.
The work is a collaboration with Dr. John Klassen's group at the University of Alberta, Canada, and describes the application of catch-and-release electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (CaR-ESI-MS) for screening natural libraries of HMOs against lectins, glycan-binding proteins that serve as microbial or host attachment molecules or signaling receptors. To demonstrate the assay, HMOs were screened against a C-terminal fragment of human galectin-3 (hGal-3C), for which the HMO specificities had been previously investigated, and a fragment of the blood group antigen-binding adhesin (BabA) from Helicobacter pylori, for which the HMO specificities had not been previously established.
Analyst, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, publishes analytical and bioanalytical research that reports premier fundamental discoveries and inventions, and the applications of those discoveries, and has an impact factor of 3.9.
November 10, 2017
Manuscript accepted in The Journal of Organic Chemistry
Our manuscript "Enzymatic and Chemoenzymatic Syntheses of Disialyl Glycans and Their Necrotizing Enterocolitis Preventing Effects" has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Organic Chemistry.
The work is a collaboration with Dr. Xi Chen's group at UC Davis and further explores the chemical space around the human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) disialyllacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT), which reduces necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in a preclinical rodent model (Jantscher-Krenn et al. 2012) and is associated with significantly lower NEC risk in preterm infants (Autran et al. 2017).
The Journal of Organic Chemistry (JOC) publishes original contributions of fundamental research in all branches of the theory and practice of organic chemistry, and has an impact factor of 4.8.
November 2, 2017
Lars speaks at 2nd jENS in Venice, Italy
Lars has been invited to speak at the 2nd Congress of joint European Neonatal Societies (jENS) held in Venice, Italy, between October 30 and November 4th.
Lars presented on "Human Milk Oligosaccharides and Necrotizing Enterocolitis".
November 1, 2017
Lars speaks at 90th Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop in Lausanne, Switzerland
Lars has been invited to speak at the 90th Nestle Nutrition Institute Workshop (NNIW90) held in Lausanne, Switzerland from October 30 to November 1, 2017.
Lars presented on "Human Milk Oliogosaccharides: Next Generation Functions and Questions".
October 6, 2017
Lars speaks at 2017 Perinatal Symposium in Munich, Germany
Lars has been invited to speak at the Perinatal Symposium held at the University Clinic Grosshadern in Munich, Germany, October 5-7, 2017.
Lars presented on "Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) in the Perinatal Space."
October 2, 2017
Bode lab part of NIH-funded project to study gut-brain axis in HIV-exposed uninfected infants
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) award an R01 research grant to our collaborator Dr. Andre van der Kouwe at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, for the project "Neuroimaging and gut microbiome markers of development in HIV-exposed uninfected infants."
The five-year project is a collaboration with Harvard Medical School in the US and the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and continues our work on how Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) influence the health of infants born to HIV-infected women.
September 27, 2017
Lars speaks at 2017 CAPGAN Congress in Lusaka, Zambia
Lars has been invited to speak at the 15th Scientific Meeting of the Commonwealth Association of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition (CAPGAN) held in Lusaka, Zambia, September 25-27, 2017.
Lars presented on "Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) as potential therapy for environmental enteric dysfunction."
September 19, 2017
Manuscript accepted in MMBR
The manuscript "The first microbial colonizers of the human gut: composition, activities and health implications of the infant gut microbiota" has been accepted for publication in the journal Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews (MMBR).
The project led by Dr. Marco Ventura, University of Parma, Italy, is a collaboration with investigators from Italy, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and our group at UC San Diego.
MMBR publishes review articles in microbiology as well as related fields such as immunology and molecular and cellular biology, and has an impact factor of 16.4.
Click Here for a list of publications.
September 6, 2017
Lars co-chairs and speaks at 5th International Conference Human Milk Science and Innovation
Together with Dr. William Rhine, Professor at Stanford University, Lars co-chairs the 5th International Conference Human Milk Science and Innovation at The Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California, September 6-8, 2017.
Lars also gave a talk about "Human Milk Oligosaccharides at the Interface of Maternal-Infant Health".
Click Here to view the conference agenda.
Click Here to read the conference press release.
August 15, 2017
Alice joins lab and receives PROMOS fellowship
The Justus-Liebig-University (JLU) Giessen, Germany, awards Alice Drobny with a PROMOS fellowship.
Alice joined the Milk Gang as a visiting graduate student in August 2017.
The PROMOS program has been developed by the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD) and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
July 25, 2017
Bode lab receives NIH Award to explore associations between HMOs and obesity risk in infancy and early childhood
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards the Bode lab a new R21 grant to explore associations between human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and and growth, body composition and obesity risk in infancy and early childhood. The project is a collaboration with Dr. Hanna Lagstrom at Turku University in Finland.
Breastfeeding has a consistent protecting effect from obesity in childhood and adolescence, but which of the bioactive components in human milk contribute to the effect on infant metabolic phenotype and growth remains mostly unknown. Leveraging resources from the established Finnish STEPS mother-infant cohort and applying new high-throughput analytical technology, the proposed project tests the hypothesis that the composition of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) is associated with growth, body composition and obesity risk in infancy and early childhood, and that maternal factors influence HMO composition.
Discoveries from the proposed exploratory project will inform new approaches for disease prevention, including (1) HMO supplementation strategies with the aim to add specific ‘protective’ HMO to an infant’s diet to reduce the risk of obesity in infancy and early childhood, and (2) recommendations on dietary or lifestyle modifications for breastfeeding mothers to ‘optimize’ HMO composition and enrich specific ‘protective’ HMO.
July 26, 2017
Manuscript accepted in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Our manuscript "Randomized controlled trial on the impact of early life intervention with bifidobacteria on the healthy infant fecal microbiota and metabolome" has been accepted for pubcliation in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Am J Clin Nutr).
The project is a collaboration with Dr. Dirk Haller's group at the Technical University Munich in Germany.
Click Here for a list of publications.
July 25, 2017
Bode lab receives NIH Award to develop new treatment for cardiovascular diseases
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards the Bode lab a new R21 grant to develop a new treatment for cardiovascular diseases. The project is a collaboration with Dr. Philip Gordts' lab at UC San Diego, who focuses on evaluating heparan sulfate proteoglycans in diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, thus considerable interest exists in understanding its cause and developing new therapies. Knowledge gained from the proposed project will guide the development of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), natural components in human milk that are considered safe for human consumption, as a new therapeutic agent that can be used in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
July 19, 2017
LRF MoMI CoRE launches first round of MoMI Seeds
The Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (LRF MoMI CoRE) at the University of California San Diego announces the first round of MoMI Seeds, a pilot project seed fund mechanism with the goal to stimulate and enable innovative and multidisciplinary research in human milk and lactation.
UC San Diego faculty members as well as postdoctoral trainees, medical fellows, and residents are eligible to submit applications for one-year grants of up to $50,000 in one of three specific Research Priority Areas defined by the Scientific Advisory Board based on the short- and long-term strategic goals of the center. In addition, the center requests grant applications for the "Milk Moonshot", innovative and creative ideas for a project related to human milk and breastfeeding that do not fit in any of the other Research Priority Areas.
June 27, 2017
Milk Gang goes wild! - Lab outing to the San Diego Safari Park
The Bode lab visits the San Diego Safari Park to celebrate all of our many successes in Academic Year 2016/17 and look forward to an exciting Academic Year 2017/18 to come.
A BIG Thank You to Marlys Houck and Laura Keener for giving us a unique behind-the-scenes tour of the Frozen Zoo and the Clinical Lab at the Safari Park Vet Hospital.
Click Here to view the photo gallery.
June 24, 2017
Congratulations to Bode lab graduates - Class of 2017!
Congratulations to the Graduate and Undergraduate students in the Bode lab who recently graduated: Bianca Robertson, Shams Al-Azzam, Averyl Nyra Narvasa and Chloe Yonemitsu
Congratulations Class of 2017! - We're very proud of you!
June 23, 2017
ESPGHAN 2017 presentation now available online as webinar
Lars' presentation at the ESPGHAN HiPP Satellite Symposium in Prague on May 12, 2017 on "Human Milk Oligosaccharides at the Interface of Maternal-Infant Health" is now available online as a webinar.
Click Here to access the webinar for free.
June 7, 2017
Bode lab welcomes four new Undergraduate Students to the team
Four UC San Diego Undergraduate Students are joining the Bode lab this month (from left to right): Ann Abraham, Melinda Chang, Ivy Nguyen and Sierra Ottilie-Kovelman
Welcome to the group!
Click Here for a list of all team members
May 31, 2017
Sali elected to UC San Diego Staff Association Executive Board
Sali Coleman, Administrative and Fiscal Specialist in the Bode lab and for LRF MoMI CoRE, has been elected to the UC San Diego Staff Association Executive Board.
Congratulations, Sali! The Bode lab is very proud of you for volunteering your time to the Staff Association!
Click Here for more information about the association.
May 26, 2017
Manuscript accepted in Frontiers in Immunology
The manuscript "What’s normal? Immune profiling of human milk from healthy women living in different geographical and socio-economic settings" has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Immunology, section Nutritional Immunology.
The manuscript marks the second report from the international INSPIRE collaboration.
Click Here for a list of publications.
May 23, 2017
Shams presents at UCSD Faculty Mentor Program Research Symposium
Shams Al-Azzam, graduate student in the UC San Diego Biological Sciences Contiguous BS/MS Program, presents her work "The Effects of Human Milk Oligosaccharides on Parasitic Organisms" on a poster during the UC San Diego Faculty Mentor Program Symposium.
Click Here for Information about the UC San Diego Faculty Mentor Program.
May 22, 2017
Bianca successfully defends her Master thesis
Bianca Robertson, graduate student in the UC San Diego Biological Sciences Contiguous BS/MS Program, successfully defends her Master thesis "Human Milk Oligosaccharide Composition: Implications for breastfeeding mothers and developmental origins of health and disease".
Committee:
Dr. Lars Bode (Chair)
Dr. Maho Niwa (Co-Chair)
Dr. Nigel Crawford
Congratulations, Bianca! Very exciting new data! Very well presented!
May 18, 2017
Chloe presents at UCSD Department of Pediatrics Research Short Talk Series
Chloe Autran, presents her work "Therapeutic Potential of Human Milk Components in the context of Chronic Inflammation" during the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics Research Short Talk Series.
Click Here for Information about the Short Talk Series.
May 18, 2017
HMO/NEC work highlighted in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Our recent work "Human milk oligosaccharide composition predicts risk of necrotising enterocolitis in preterm infants" published in the journal Gut has been highlighted in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Click Here to read the highlight in Nature Reviews.
Click Here to read the original article in Gut.
Click Here for a list of publications.
May 12, 2017
Lars speaks at ESPGHAN in Prague
Lars has been invited to speak at the 50th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) in Prague, Czech Republic, May 10-13. Lars presented on "Human Milk Oligosaccharides at the Interface of Maternal-Infant Health."
April 23, 2017
Bianca presents poster at Experimental Biology in Chicago
Bianca Robertson, BS/MS graduate candidate in the Bode lab, has been selected to present part of her work at the Experimental Biology conference in Chicago, IL.
Bianca is giving a poster presentation about her work on "Maternal Factors and Human Milk Oligosaccharide Composition in the CHILD Cohort", a collaboration with Dr. Meghan Azad at The University of Manitoba.
April 22, 2017
Shams selected to present at UCSD Undergraduate Research Conference
Shams Al-Azzam, BS/MS graduate student in the Bode lab, has been selected to present at the 30th UCSD Undergraduate Research Conference (URC).
Shams is going to give an oral presentation about her work on "The effect of Human Milk Oligosaccharides on Parasitic Infections", a collaboration with Dr. Conor Caffrey at the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.
April 20, 2017
Manuscript accepted for publication in Journal of Human Lactation
Our manuscript "Relationships among microbial communities, maternal cells, oligosaccharides, and macronutrients in human milk" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Human Lactation.
The study is a collaboration with Dr. Michelle (Shelley) McGuire at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, and Dr. Mark McGuire at the University of Idaho, Moscow, ID.
Click Here for a list of publications.
April 17, 2017
Manuscript accepted for publication in JBC
Our manuscript "Human Milk Oligosaccharides Inhibit Growth of Group B Streptococcus" has been accepted for publication in The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC).
Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus; GBS) is a leading cause of invasive bacterial infections in newborns, typically acquired vertically during childbirth secondary to maternal vaginal colonization. GBS transmission to the newborn is associated with risk of pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis.
Our study reports that specific Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) inhibit GBS growth and synergize with known antibiotics, uncovering a unique antibacterial role for HMOs against a leading neonatal pathogen, and expanding the potential therapeutic utility of these versatile molecules.
The study is a collaboration with Dr. Victor Nizet's and Dr. Kamil Godula's groups at UC San Diego as well as with Dr. Kelly Doran's group at San Diego State University, Dr. Geert-Jan Boons' group at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, and Dr. Amanda Lewis' group at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MI.
Click Here for a list of publications.
April 10, 2017
Bode lab welcomes Sali Coleman as Administrative and Fiscal Specialist
The Bode lab welcomes Sali Coleman as our new Administrative and Fiscal Specialist. Sali has provided outstanding service to the UC San Diego community for over a decade and is now working with both the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (LRF MoMI CoRE) as well as the Bode lab.
Welcome on board, Sali!
Click Here for a list of all team mebers.
April 10, 2017
Bode lab to lead BMGF-funded project to identify and synthesize human milk oligosaccharides to prevent environmental enteric dysfunction and diarrheal disease
The Bode lab is leading a new project to identify and synthesize Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) to prevent environmental enteric dysfunction and diarrheal disease.
The two-year project is funded with $1.7M support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and uses a multi-dimensional approach to assess in vitro and in vivo efficacy of HMOs and identify and synthesize specific HMO stuctures responsible for potential beneficial effects.
The project is a collaboration between the Bode lab, Dr. Lars Eckmann's lab and Dr. Rob Knight's lab at UC San Diego, Dr. Jim Nataro's lab at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, as well as inbiose, a spin-off company from Ghent University in Belgium.
April 7, 2017
Bode lab searches for Research Associate/Lab Manager
Under the general supervision of the Principal Investigator, the Research Associate/Lab Manager will manage all aspects of the research laboratory and conduct independent research projects studying the effects of human milk oligosaccharides (HMO). The candidate is expected to ensure smooth and safe functioning of the laboratory, as well as make significant innovative contributions pertaining to the design and overall direction of research projects and propose possible changes or new directions when appropriate.
Click Here to view the Job Description and Apply Online.
Filing deadline: Friday, April 21, 2017
April 6, 2017
Bode lab part of NIH-funded project to study the impact of sugars and human milk oligosaccharides on infant obesity
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) award a R01 research grant to USC and UCSD investigators to study the "Impact of Sugars and Human Milk Oligosaccharides on Infant Microbiome and Obesity".
Dr. Michael Goran at the University of Southern California (USC) serves as primary Principal Investigator, with Dr. Lars Bode and Dr. Rob Knight as award subrecipients for the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
March 15, 2017
Lars speaks at Australian Breastfeeding Association Seminar Series
Lars speaks at Australian Breastfeeding Association Seminar Series for Health Professionals touring Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Click Here for a list of past and future presentations.
March 6, 2017
Manuscript accepted in Beneficial Microbes
Our manuscript "Human milk oligosaccharide categories define the microbiota composition in human colostrum" has been accepted for publication in Beneficial Microbes.
The project is a collaboration with Dr. Seppo Salminen, Dr. Samuli Rautava and Dr. Erika Isolauri at the University of Turku, Finland.
Click Here for a list of publications.
March 5, 2017
Manuscript accepted in Gut
Our manuscript "Human milk oligosaccharide composition predicts risk of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants" has been accepted in the journal Gut.
Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the most frequent and often fatal intestinal disorders in premature infants. Breast-fed infants are at a 6- to 10-fold lower risk of developing NEC than formula-fed infants. Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), complex glycans that are highly abundant in breast milk but not in infant formula, prevent NEC in a neonatal rat model (Jantscher-Krenn et al. Gut 2012). Of the more than 150 HMO described to date, a single oligosaccharide, disialyllacto-N-tetraose (DSLNT), is responsible for the beneficial effects in neonatal rats.
The manuscript reports data from a multicenter clinical cohort study that tested the hypothesis that infants who develop NEC receive milk with less DSLNT than infants who do not develop NEC.
200 mother-infant dyads were recruited at five different sites across North America.
The study team at five sites across North America recruited 200 mothers and their very low-birth-weight infants that were predominantly human milk-fed, analyzed HMO composition in breast milk fed to infants over the first 28 days post partum, matched each NEC case with five controls, and used logistic regression and generalized estimating equation (GEE) to confirm that infants who develop NEC receive milk with less DSLNT than infants who do not develop NEC.
DSLNT concentrations are uniquely and consistently low in NEC cases (left) when compared to controls (right). Samples in each row are case-control matched by study site, gestational age, birth-weight and other NEC-relevant factors.
February 13, 2017
Lars appointed as first Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Chair of Collaborative Human Milk Research
University of California San Diego Chancellor Dr. Pradeep Khosla appoints Lars as the inaugural chair holder of the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Chair of Collaborative Human Milk Research in the School of Medicine.
The Chair is also the Director of the new Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (LRF MoMI CoRE).
Click Here to visit the LRF MoMI CoRE website.
February 13, 2017
Manuscript accepted in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Our manuscript "What's normal? Oligosaccharide concentrations and profiles in milk produced by healthy women vary geographically" has been accepted for pubcliation in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Am J Clin Nutr).
The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, analzyed and compared human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) composition in milk samples collected from over 400 healthy women in 11 international cohorts, including Ethopia, the Gambia, Ghana and Kenya, Sweden, Spain, Peru as well as two sites in North America.
Percentage of women who generate milk with alpha-1-2-fucosylated oligosaccharides (Secretors) varies between regions.
Click Here for a list of publications.
February 1, 2017
Manuscript accepted in Paediatrics and International Child Health
Our manuscript "The effect of simulated flash heating pasteurisation and Holder pasteurisation on human milk oligosaccharides" has been accepted for publication in the journal Paediatrics and International Child Health.
The project assessed HMO composition in milk samples treated with a low-cost remote pasteurisation temperature-monitoring system that uses FoneAstra, a cell phone-based networked sensing system to monitor simulated flash heat (FH) pasteurisation.
The project is a collaboration with Dr. Coutsoudis group at the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, Congella, Durban, South Africa, and Dr. Israel-Ballard's group at the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition Global Program, PATH, Seattle, Washington, USA.
The lead author, Dr. Brodie Daniels, visited the Bode lab with support of the International Atomic Energy Agency and through PATH, who received a grant from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Brodie is also supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Paediatrics and International Child Health is an international forum for all aspects of paediatrics and child health in developing and low-income countries. The international, peer-reviewed papers cover a wide range of diseases in childhood and examine the social and cultural settings in which they occur.
Click Here for a list of publications.
January 12, 2017
Unraveling the Complexity of Human Milk - $10.5 million gift funds center for human milk research at UC San Diego
A $10.5 million gift from the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation in Switzerland seeds a new UC San Diego center dedicated to human milk and lactation research.
The mission of the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence (LRF MoMI CoRE) is to unravel the complexity of human milk for optimal maternal and infant health by promoting excellence, synergy and innovation in research, clinical practice and education.
Lars has been named the center's Director.
Our goal is for LRF MoMI CoRE to become the cornerstone in a global network of research excellence in human milk and lactation and serve as a model of innovative multidisciplinary research, a key to answering complicated questions related to why and how human milk promotes optimal health, growth, and development.
Click Here to visit the LRF MoMI CoRE website.
Click Here to read an article about the new center in thisweek@ucsandiego.
Dedicated to Research on Human Milk Oligosaccharides
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