Daniel Radford-Smith
Research Interests
I am interested in how maternal nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding affects offspring neurobiology and behaviour. We have shown that F0 prebiotic feeding in mice during this period has anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects in the F1 generation, and alters NMDA receptor gene expression in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. By investigating changes in the gut microbiota and associated metabolites, I aim to uncover some of the biological mechanisms that underpin gut-brain axis communication, and by extension how nutrition during pregnancy shapes the CNS immune environment, and behaviour.
