Assistant Professor
The Pennsylvania State University
Vishal Singh, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Nutritional Physiology and Microbiome at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU). Dr. Singh’s ‘Nutrition and Microbiome’ lab at the Department of Nutritional Sciences aims to solve the health issues faced by consuming processed foods with low nutritional value, and the health implications of fortification of refined dietary fiber(s) in packaged foods. Specifically, by employing the experimental mouse model(s), his lab is currently pursuing the following questions: (i) Is the fortification of refined fermentable fiber(s) in processed food ‘good’ for all humans? (ii) If not, which groups are likely to have adverse effects from the over-consumption of fermentable fibers such as inulin? His recent work (Cell, 2018) on dietary fibers advocates the consumption of whole fruits and food to meet the needs of dietary fiber, and caution against fortifying the refined fermentable fiber in processed foods as it may increase the risk of liver cancer, in the long run. In another intriguing study ((Gut, 2019)), his research answered a longstanding puzzle of why patients with inflammatory bowel disease report poor tolerance to certain types of dietary fibers. Moreover, Dr. Singh’s work identified a previously unknown link by which dysbiotic gut microbiota promotes metabolic syndrome (Cell Metabolism, 2015). The vision of his lab is to develop microbiome-informed dietary fiber interventions to improve gastrointestinal and metabolic health. Dr. Singh’s research is supported by Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. He has published more than 45 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and serves as a reviewer for many international journals. Additionally, he is serving as an associate editor for the Journal of Dietary Supplements and Gastroenterology Report.