M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril
Adjunct Asst Professor
Assoc. Prof - UNC School of Medicine and Nutrition
Director, UNC-CH Microbiome Core Facility
UNC School of Medicine, 322 Isaac Taylor Hall, Campus Box 7555, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Bio
Andrea Azcarate is a microbiologist who studies the mechanisms by which prebiotics and probiotics modulate the gut microbiota providing a health benefit to the host. She has authored numerous publications in the field of functional genomics of probiotic bacteria, and beneficial modulation of the microbiome. Moreover, her expertise lays on the compositional and functional analyses of the microbiome and identification of health-relevant microbial signatures. She and her colleagues have recently shown that prebiotics can alleviate symptoms of lactose intolerance by favoring growth of lactose-scavenger beneficial bacteria. Determination of compounds and methods that can beneficially modulate the gut microbiome to reverse dysbiosis will have a relevant role in preventing gastrointestinal disorders like obesity, and aging-associated dysbioses.
Area(s) of Expertise
Modulation of host-associated microbiota by prebiotics and probiotics. Physiology and functional genomics of probiotic strains. Molecular biology, genomics, and next-generation sequencing tools to determine the role of the intestinal microbiota in human health and disease.
Publications
- Gallbladder microbiota in healthy dogs and dogs with mucocele formation , PLOS ONE (2023)
- Randomized placebo-controlled trial of feline-origin Enterococcus hirae probiotic effects on preventative health and fecal microbiota composition of fostered shelter kittens , FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE (2022)
- Assessment of the non-lactic acid bacteria microbiota in fresh cucumbers and commercially fermented cucumber pickles brined with 6% NaCl , FOOD MICROBIOLOGY (2019)