I obtained my undergraduate degree, Master’s degree and PhD at the University of East Anglia. Specifically, I undertook my PhD at the Quadram Institute Bioscience, where I developed an interest in gut-brain health, utilising in vitro cell culture-based approaches for assessing the effects of bacterial products in gut-brain communication.

Now part of the Fred Warren research group, my focus is on the role of dietary fibre in reducing symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients. Working in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, I am using colonic models to assess the role of dietary fibre on gas and microbial metabolite production, as well as using cell-based models to understand the underlying mechanisms in promoting gut-health.

Key publications

“Modasia A, Parker A, Jones E, Stentz R, Brion A, Goldson A, Defernez M, Wileman T, Ashley Blackshaw L, Carding SR; Regulation of Enteroendocrine Cell Networks by the Major Human Gut Symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron; Front Microbiol. 2020 Nov 6;11:575595. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.575595. eCollection 2020.

Parker A, Vaux L, Patterson AM, Modasia A, Muraro D, Fletcher AG, Byrne HM, Maini PK, Watson AJM, Pin C; Elevated apoptosis impairs epithelial cell turnover and shortens villi in TNF-driven intestinal inflammation; Cell Death Dis. 2019 Feb 6;10(2):108. doi: 10.1038/s41419-018-1275-5.
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