Nutrigenomics for Precision Health

  • Research Project

What We Do

The long-term goal of our research is to discover pathways and related genetic variants that are strongly associated with healthy metabolic effects of specific diets, thereby allowing personalized nutrition advice based on an individual’s genetic information.

Project Info

PI: Civelek (UVA School of Medicine)
Co-Is: Sibylle Kranz and from the UVA School of Medicine: Kundu, Keller, Ferris 

This study is based on a recent pilot study during which we fed four genetically diverse mouse strains four common humanized diets (American, Mediterranean, vegetarian, and vegan). We observed pronounced diet- and strain-dependent effects on body weight gain, and circulating nutrient and insulin levels despite similar caloric intake. Principal component analysis taking (controlling for circulating glucose, triglycerides, non-esterified fatty acids, and insulin) showed that the genetic background of mice had a significant impact on the variation among the combined metabolic phenotypes.

Related Lab

  • DAN
  • Research Lab

Diet and Nutrition Research Laboratory

Our mission is to investigate the effect of diet on health and learning outcomes, especially in children. The lab consists of a metabolic kitchen and a feeding/dining area with a play space for our studies in children.