Ramya Balasubramanian, a PhD candidate at the University College Cork, is deeply passionate about exploring the downstream consequences of dietary intervention strategies that are not only affordable but also cross-culturally accessible. Her primary focus lies in unraveling the impact of these interventions on both gut health and the overall mental well-being of consumers. Additionally, Ramya is highly intrigued by the intricate interplay between environmental and social stress factors and their influence on the gut microbiota. Her research aspirations extend towards developing a nuanced understanding of how the modulation of gut microbiota could pave the way for the creation of microbiota-targeted therapeutics specifically tailored for mental health.
I want to understand how the gut microbiota of the consumer can be manipulated to confer neuroprotective and overall health benefits to the consumer. I want to do this because it offers a means of managing co-morbidities via changes in lifestyle and identification of root causes which can have long lasting impact on patient health. I can do this because I have roots stemming from neuroscience, microbiology and pharmacology, which helps me to understand and contribute towards the current state of the field.