Purna C. Kashyap, MBBS
Photo: Purna Kashyap

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Elected 2021

Dr. Purna Kashyap is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Co- Director of the Microbiome program and director of the germ-free mouse facility at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Dr. Kashyap has published over 80 peer reviewed articles including in journals like Cell, Cell Host Microbe, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, and Gastroenterology. He was appointed to scientific advisory board of AGA gut microbiome center and elected to the council of AGA and ANMS. He serves in editorial roles for Gut Microbes and Neurogastroenterology and Motility and frequently serves on review panels for NIH and international funding agencies.

The gut microbiome laboratory led by Dr. Kashyap is interested in understanding the complex interactions between diet, gut microbiome and host physiology and strives to move the field beyond simple associations of microbiome with different diseases to defining the functional role of gut microbes in regulating host physiology. The laboratory uses germ-free (GF), gnotobiotic (defined colonization) and humanized mice (GF mice colonized with human gut microbiota) to study the effects of human-derived microbes in established vertebrate models. The laboratory employs techniques such as Ussing chamber studies to assess intestinal secretion and epithelial barrier function, colonic manometry to assess contractility and visceral pain, marker based whole gut transit, gastrointestinal motility monitor, human and mouse derived organoids etc. to investigate effects of gut microbial products on host function in vitro and in vivo. In parallel, they use a systems approach incorporating multi-omics, patient metadata, and physiologic tissue responses in human studies, to aid discovery of novel microbial drivers of disease that can be verified experimentally allowing an iterative process for development of robust therapeutics. The overall goal of the program is to develop novel therapeutic agents such as genetically engineered microbes to treat patients with disorders resulting from altered microbiota function.