PhD student profile, Laura Brunelli

PhD Student: Laura Brunelli (ORCID n. 0000-0002-8973-3643)

Supervisor: Prof. Simone Domenico Guglielmetti, DeFENS

Co-tutor: Dr. Walter Fiore, SOFAR S.p.A.

Dean: Prof. Diego Mora

Research area: Food Science and Nutrition

Research topic

Molecular biology, genetics and (meta)genomics for the optimized use of probiotic microorganisms of industrial interest.

Project Synopsis

It is recently emerged the central role of the gut microbiota in IBS, further supported by the reported beneficial effects of the use of several blend probiotic products.

Therefore, this project is focused on the development of a blend consisting of selected SOFAR’s strains, which will be microbiologically defined by an in vitro characterization.

Overall, the main purpose of this project is to assess the effect of this probiotic multi-strain supplement in patients with IBS through a pilot multicentre study.

Since an important limitation in clinical trials with probiotics consists in the actual amount of microbial cells administered, the newly developed formulation will be also analysed at defined time-points to assess the stability during the shelf-life, both by dilution and plating and by flow cytometry.

Project keywords

Lactic Acid Bacteria, multi-strain probiotic, Flow cytometry, Gut microbiota

Contacts

SOFAR S.p.A. R&D laboratory c/o Kilometro Rosso

Via Stezzano, 87, 24126 Bergamo (BG)

laura.brunelli@sofarfarm.it; Laura.Brunelli@unimi.it

Sponsor

Fellowship sponsor: SOFAR S.p.A.