PhD student
Ghent University, Belgium
Lishi Deng is a dedicated PhD researcher at the Department of Food Technology, Safety, and Health at Ghent University. Her academic journey is marked by a strong focus on human nutrition, particularly within vulnerable populations in low and middle-income countries. Her doctoral research centers on the intricate relationship between human milk composition, the gut microbiome, and infant growth.
Lishi holds a Master's degree in Nutrition and Rural Development from Ghent University, graduating cum laude. Her research has significanty contributed to the understanding of clinical and biochemical response to treatment for severe acute malnutrition in children, with findings published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
She is currently involved in two research projects, the MISAME-III trial and the Denbalo trial, both funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The MISAME-III trial investigates the efficacy of balanced energy-protein supplementation during pregnancy and lactation on birth outcomes and linear growth. Denbalo project studies the physiological differences between small vulnerable newborns (small-for-gestational age, low birth weight, preterm) and normal babies. Lishi aims to apply multi-omics integration techniques to understand the physiological effects of maternal nutritional supplementation on mother and infants, and to explore the dynamic iterplay between human milk components maternal and infant gut microbiome, and their impact on the linear growth of infant.