The Pew Charitable Trusts today named 10 postdoctoral scientists to the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences, including Jhimmy Talbot, PhD, from Brazil. Talbot will work as a postdoctoral fellow alongside Dan Littman, MD, PhD, the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology at NYU School of Medicine’s Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine.

The fellowships are awarded to exceptional scientists from Latin America to pursue postdoctoral studies in the United States with distinguished mentors who encourage bold approaches to biomedical research that improves human health. Relationships forged between fellows and mentors can span decades and spark groundbreaking collaboration across the globe.

“Jhimmy is a very creative young investigator and we are very grateful to the Pew Program for recognizing his promise,” said Littman.

Talbot’s work in Littman’s lab could lead to the identification of new treatments for intestinal disorders, such as chronic inflammatory intestinal bowel disease.

The researchers plan to study the role of the enteric (gut) nervous system in intestinal immune function and its complex relationship with resident microorganisms. It is known that the maintenance of a functional intestinal immune system is heavily influenced by the interaction of intestinal microbes and immune cells. Recent studies suggest that the nerve cells that control gut activity can recognize microbiota metabolites, but there is not yet a good understanding of how this recognition translates into modulation of intestinal immune homeostasis. Using sophisticated methods in cell and molecular biology, genetics and immunology, Talbot will determine whether activation of intestinal neurons influences the action of immune cells in the gut—and how resident microbes promote this interaction.

Talbot received a doctorate in pharmacology from the School of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto - University of São Paulo, Brazil in 2015, working with Fernando de Queiroz Cunha, PhD.

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