gut microbes and human body

I grew up in a cross-cultural family in Stockholm. My mum, who was born in Kenya, emigrated to Sweden in the 1960s. My dad is Cuban–Norwegian. I got in touch with my heritage through cooking, which I viewed as experimentation — I didn't know I was doing science. After high school, I moved to New York City to follow my goal to become a chef. But a restaurant is a fast-paced, intense environment that didn't offer time for thinking creatively. So I decided to apply to university to see how else I could explore my interests in food.

Where did those explorations take you?

I ended up at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. As an undergraduate, I won a scholarship to go to Món Sant Benet, Spain, and work at the Alícia Foundation, a unique place that uses science to deconstruct and understand food. It was a pivotal choice. I went there thinking I would learn how to be a better chef, and came out realizing that cooking and science are one and the same. In June 2013, I went to the Mayo Clinic in nearby Rochester to study gut microbes. When I was in my third year, I joined a chemical-biology lab at Harvard to continue studying gut microbes.

What motivated you to create a 'Young Chefs' programme as an undergraduate?

Cooking made science relevant to me. I decided that it would be a fantastic way to get others interested in science as well. Initially, I worked with underserved young Somali and Latino immigrant students aged 11–14. Together with some other professors and students at Carleton, I developed a rigorous, hands-on scientific curriculum that addressed physical and life-science concepts. We now have 27 lesson plans that we made free and open access. It's been used by 300 educators around the world. It's something I'll do for the rest of my life.

What is your PhD research focused on?

I'm interested in the connection between gut microbes and human biology — specifically, how microbes in the gut metabolize molecules we ingest. When we consume something — be it a drug, food or toxin — the body can't access those molecules immediately. They are first transformed by gut microbes, which in turn alter the molecular properties of the gut, with profound implications for health and disease.

What are your thoughts on the current status of diversity in academic science?

It's striking how much less diversity you find higher up in academia. As well as a lack of racial diversity, there's also a lack of diversity in socio-economic or educational backgrounds. We need to get people interested in science at an earlier age to maintain a larger pool of young scientists

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v551/n7680/full/nj7680-403a.html