Ryan M. Pace

Dr. Ryan M. Pace is a NIH IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine. His research aims to use highly multidimensional human microbiome data to probe at the complex ecology of microbial strains in the perinatal period to address the mode of transmission from mother to child and origin of microbes, how microbial communities are structured, and how they function to affect health from infancy to adulthood. In addition, as part of a large consortium, Dr. Pace has previously worked on a highly relevant non-human primate model (Macaca fuscata, Japanese macaque) of maternal obesity to examine how dietary exposures during pregnancy and nursing, specifically western style diet, modulate the acquisition and maturation of the gut microbiome, and in turn better understand the effects of the interplay between the environment and microbial contributions to complex disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and anxiety-like behavior.