个人简介

B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science) Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

研究领域

Molecular Biology and Disease

The research interests of our group focus on understanding the full potential of nutrition to prevent and treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. Our research spans basic science aimed at determining the mechanisms through with diet affects the progression and maintenance of obesity through to applied human clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of novel dietary interventions. We have made significant progress in understanding how maternal diet during pregnancy ‘programs’ the risk of obesity and impaired glucose tolerance in offspring. Altering the macronutrient composition of maternal diet, in this case the dietary protein and fiber content, led to permanent changes in the accumulation of body fat and the ability to handle oral glucose in the offspring. Further insight into the lasting influence that maternal health status has on long term offspring health is being gained from work examining the aggressive treatment of obesity in female animals prior to becoming pregnant. We are currently using metabolomics to examine the global metabolite profile of pregnant rats fed an obesogenic diet and a high fiber diet. Given the clear evidence that dietary environment experienced early in life has long term consequences for health and disease risk, our goal in this work is to determine the most effective means of reducing programmed obesity risk in offspring. Our group is also making progress in understanding the link between the human host and intestinal microbial communities. Recent evidence suggests that the abundant and diverse communities of bacteria in the intestine influence energy metabolism and thereby affect the development of obesity. We examine the effect of modifying intestinal bacteria toward healthy profiles with prebiotics (unique dietary fibers that selectively fuel healthy gut bacteria) and probiotics (live bacteria that confer a health benefit to the host). We have ongoing work translating this animal work into human clinical trial examining the effects of a prebiotics on appetite, food intake, and weight loss in overweight adults. The long-term goal of our work is to identify novel nutritional therapies to prevent and treat chronic disease.

近期论文

查看导师新发文章 （温馨提示：请注意重名现象，建议点开原文通过作者单位确认）

Bomhof MR, Saha DC, Reid DT, Paul HA, Reimer RA (2014) Combined effects of oligofructose and Bifidobacterium animalis on gut microbiota and glycemia in obese rats. Obesity 22:763-771 Reimer RA, Grover GJ, Koetzner L, Gahler RJ, Lyon MR, Wood S (2014) Combining sitagliptin/metformin with a functional fiber delays diabetes progression in Zucker rats. Journal of Endocrinology. 220:361-373. Cowan TE, Palmnas MS, Yang J, Bomhof MR, Ardell K, Reimer RA, Vogel HJ, Shearer J (2014) Chronic coffee consumption in the diet-induced obese rat: impact on gut microbiota and serum metabolomics. J Nutr Biochem 25(4):489-495. Reimer RA, Maathuis A, Venema K, Lyon MR, Gahler RJ, Wood S (2014) Effect of the novel polysaccharide PolyGlycopleX® on short-chain fatty acid production in a computer-controlled in vitro model of the large intestine. Nutrients 6:1115-1127. Hallam MC, Reimer RA (2014) Postnatal prebiotic fiber intake in offspring exposed to gestational protein restriction has sex-specific effects on insulin resistance and intestinal permeability in rats. J Nutr 144:1556-1563. Hallam MC, Barile D, Meyrand M, German JB, Reimer RA (2014) Maternal high protein or prebiotic fiber diets affect maternal milk composition and gut microbiota in rat dams and their offspring. Obesity 22:2344-2351.Selected for special virtual issue “It All Starts in the Womb” Eslinger JA, Eller LK, Reimer RA (2014) Yellow pea fiber improves glycemia and reduces Clostridium leptum in diet-induced obese rats. Nutrition Research 34:714-722. Saha DC, Reimer RA (2014) Long-term intake of a high prebiotic fiber diet but not high protein reduces metabolic risk after a high fat challenge and uniquely alters gut microbiota and hepatic gene expression. Nutrition Research 34:789-796. Palmnas MSA, Cowan TE, Bomhof MR, Su J, Reimer RA, Vogel HJ, Hittel DS, Shearer J (2014) Low-Dose Aspartame Consumption Differentially Affects Gut Microbiota-Host Metabolic Interactions in the Diet-Induced Obese Rat. PLOS One 9(10):e109841. Cluny NL, Eller LK, Keenan CM, Reimer RA, Sharkey KA (2015) Interactive effects of oligofructose and obesity predisposition on gut hormones and microbiota in diet-induced obese rats. Obesity 23:769-778. Editor’s Choice Article. Collins KH, Reimer RA, Seerattan RA, Leonard TR, Herzog W (2015) Using Diet Induced Obesity to Understand a Metabolic Subtype of Osteoarthritis in Rats. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 23(6):957-965. Lambert JE, Myslicki J, Bomhof MR, Belke DD, Shearer J, Reimer RA (2015) Exercise training modifies gut microbiota in normal and diabetic mice. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 40(7):749-752. Reid DT, Eller LK, Nettleton JE, Reimer RA (2015) Postnatal prebiotic fibre intake mitigates some detrimental metabolic outcomes of early overnutrition in rats. Eur J Nutr Epub ahead of print Sept 15. Collins KH, Paul HA, Reimer RA, Seerattan RA, Hart DA, Herzog W (2015) Relationship between inflammation, the gut microbiota, and metabolic osteoarthritis development: studies in a rat model. Osteoarthritis & Cartilage 23:1989-1998.