PI: Sandra Holasek
Focus: The Nutrition and Metabolism research unit addresses nutritional assessment in eating disorders, mental illness, food intolerances, and athletes using various methods to standardize nutritional interventions, measure body composition, nutrient intake, and relevant metabolites with a focus on adipocyte biology. The role of plant-based ingredients in nutritional immunometabolism is being investigated in dendritic cells and T cells in a translational manner. Another focus is the influence of food quality and the gut microbiome on the immune system in connection with eating disorders, lifestyle, body fat, and age.
Networking: We conduct cross-team research at the Otto Loewi Research Center with Herbert Strobl (DC models) and Johannes Fessler (clinical collectives), Gunther Marsche (lipid metabolism), Max Moser (heart rate variability), at the Gottfried Schatz Center with Wolfram Müller (body fat analysis), and at the Diagnostic & Research Center for Molecular Biomedicine with Christine Moissl-Eichinger (microbiome analysis). In addition, various interdisciplinary collaborations are underway with departments of psychiatry, laboratory medicine, the Institute of Sports Science, and the Institute of Psychology at the University of Graz and Graz University of Technology, FH Joanneum, the University of Vienna, and international partners.
