THIS WEBSITE USES COOKIES
We use cookies to personalise content, to provide social media features, and to analyse our traffic. By choosing 'allow all cookies', you consent to our cookies.
To find out more, read our privacy policy and cookie policy.

Pranjal Gupta

DC7
Linkedin

BioTransform is a fantastic platform to combine computational biology with translational gut health research. I’m excited to work within such a collaborative European network to uncover how microbial metabolites shape human health from the inside out

DC7: Impact of bilberry and olive bioactives on gut microbiome

Supervisor: Prof. Paul Cotter; Prof. Cormac Gahan (UCC)

Co-Supervisors: Prof. Sandra Holasek (MedUniGraz), Dr. Rene Roth-Ohrang (Finzelberg)

Secondments This project is carried out in strong collaboration with the institutions listed below:

  • Sandra Holasek, Division of Immunology, Medical University of Graz (MedUniGraz), Austria
  • Nina Hermans, Natural Products & Food Research and Analysis – Pharmaceutical Technology (NatuRAPT), University of Antwerp, Belgium
  • Rene Roth-Ohrang, Finzelberg, Andernach, Germany
Project description

As a Doctoral Candidate 7 (DC7) within the BioTransform network at Teagasc (Ireland), my research will focus on the intersection between dietary bioactives and the human gut microbiome. My project aims to map how the gut microbiota metabolizes complex, plant-derived constituents, specifically bilberry anthocyanins and olive bioactives and how these microbial biotransformations influence human metabolic health.

Driven by the hypothesis that microbial metabolites, rather than the original plant precursors, are the true bioactive agents in the body, I will be analysing 16S rDNA and shotgun metagenomic data derived from parallel clinical pilot studies in Central and Southern Europe. By employing bioinformatics tools and integrating metagenomic and metabolomic data, my goal will be to uncover novel metabolic pathways, identify the specific gut microbes responsible for these conversions, and clarify how these flagship European food products combat metabolism related pathologies.

Professional background

I hold a Master of Science in Bioinformatics from Pondicherry University and a Bachelor of Science in Botany, Chemistry, and Zoology. Prior to joining the BioTransform doctoral network, I contributed to the Phenome India Initiative as a researcher at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) in New Delhi. In this role, I analysed one of the largest gut microbiome cohorts in the country, processing shotgun metagenomic data for over 6,000 clinical samples to help build India’s first comprehensive metagenome catalogue. My technical expertise lies in high-throughput data handling and analysis.