Kombucha is a drink that has gained reputation within the United States lately as a result of its presumed well being advantages, however few can clarify whether or not these advantages are scientifically or clinically true. 

Rachel DuMez is a doctoral candidate who participated in The Graduate School’s annualThree Minute Thesiscompetitors, and her analysis seeks to reply this query. The competitors gives graduate college students the chance to sharpen their communication abilities in terms of successfully relaying their analysis to a non-scientific viewers.   

Studying a beverage common amongst well being circles wasn’t the place DuMez thought that pursuing a graduate diploma would lead her, however by way of numerous doctoral rotations and an opportunity assembly together with her future principal investigator, she discovered a lab at Carolina that might enable her to mix her pursuits. 

“Though I had a personal interest in nutrition, metabolism and the gut biome, I had never really considered integrating that into my scientific pursuits,” DuMez stated. “Thankfully, UNC-Chapel Hill is an extremely collaborative place. So,it’s been really helpful to be able to leverage the resources we have on campus.”  

DuMez and Assistant ProfessorRob Dowenhave labored to create an interdisciplinary analysis challenge, together with connecting with consultants in vitamin from theUNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.She’s additionally working alongsideAzcarate-Peril, the director of the Microbiome Core Facility, which brings collectively individuals who have an curiosity in microbiome communities and interactions.   

Within theDowen Lab, DuMez research the metabolism ofCaenorhabditis elegans(C. elegans) – small worms solely a few millimeter in size – as a mannequin system to study extra in regards to the alleged well being advantages of kombucha. Due to the plentiful number of microbes inside our human gastrointestinal tracts, discovering a transparent hyperlink between kombucha and its advantages might be troublesome to pinpoint.C. elegans, with lifespans of solely a month or so and a easy gut for remark, provide an answer to this problem.  

“In worms, the relevant metabolic processes we are interested in are simpler but highly conserved in humans,”DuMez stated. “Therefore, they are a great model system to gain a better understanding of what might happen at a biological level when animals consume kombucha. In the future, we could take a very hypothesis-driven approach to study if the same paradigms we see in worms hold true in higher-level organisms like mice.” 

Her analysis up to now has pointed to a longtime intestine microbiome, prolonged life and lowered fats storageinC. elegansconsuming a kombucha-exclusive food plan. Based on her presentation of this analysis, she received this yr’s peoples’ alternative award throughout the Three Minute Thesis competitors. 

“It’s a really valuable exercise, regardless of the platform you’re going to share it on,” DuMez stated. “But I thought that this year, since the competition would be in person, there’s another added layer of what you need to practice and what you need to prepare for. I was definitely excited to do that.”  

The Three Minute Thesis competitors helped DuMez relay her analysis to others, nevertheless it additionally glad a private aim she got down to accomplish in graduate college.  

“One of my goals in graduate school was to become a better communicator of my science and to become more confident in talking about my science,” DuMez stated. The Graduate School’s skilled abilities boot camp, which she participated in throughout the fall of 2021,allowed her to get a jumpstart on attaining that aim.  

“The bootcamp was really helpful.As part of that experience, we had to make pre–and post-videos. We had pretty much already put together a three-minute thesis, and so they encouraged us to submit them for the competition since we had pretty much already done that as part of the bootcamp.”That video submission landed her a spot within the prime 10 2021 Three Minute Thesis competitors. 

As for after commencement, DuMez is not sure if her research will lead her to work in trade oracademia, however herkombucha analysis, along with the communication abilities she’s collected, will function her driving power.