Abbi Hernandez, PhD, UAB Center for Exercise Medicine T32 program's postdoctoral trainee received a travel award for her poster presentation at the 2021 Virtual UAB Microbiome Center Symposium. Hernandez’s work titled “Alzheimer’s disease-inflicted microbiome alterations may be ameliorated by a ketogenic, time restricted diet in rats” investigated the effects of different dietary paradigms on the gut microbiome in young and aged rats.

“We found that time restricted feeding, regardless of macronutrient composition, resulted in significant changes in the gut microbiome of both age groups,” Hernandez said. “Notably, we saw a restoration of specific microbiota that are negatively affected by Alzheimer’s disease and by obesity or other metabolic impairment.”

She added that these data give her more evidence that the gut can be utilized as a target for Alzheimer’s disease and other metabolic disorders that occur with aging. She plans to continue to investigate in this area.

Congratulations, Abbi!