Five research projects set to advance gut health science in dsm-firmenich’s €250K Asia-Pacific grant

The inaugural Nutrition Research Grant by dsm-firmenich awards a total of €250,000 (US$263,477) to five distinguished researchers from the Asia-Pacific region. Each recipient will receive €50,000 (US$52,695) in funding to support up to 18 months of research to advance scientific understanding of gut health. 

The inaugural grant, centered on the theme “Health from the Gut across the Human Lifespan,” highlights the growing recognition of gut health as a cornerstone of overall well-being across the Asia-Pacific region.

“We were very impressed with the quality and depth of submissions we received. Applications came in from nine different countries across the Asia-Pacific region, and we engaged two key opinion leaders in microbiome and clinical nutrition to select the top five projects,” says Anneleen Spooren, SVP of innovation, R&D & Regulatory, Health, Nutrition and Care (HNC) at dsm-firmenich.

“We are excited to work closely with these researchers to uncover how different biotics can modulate the gut microbiome and to expand our knowledge of the microbiome-health relationship.”

Broad spectrum gut health

The grant called for proposals to study the individual and synergistic roles of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), probiotics and postbiotics in segments such as early life nutrition, adult nutrition and healthy aging. It aims to advance the understanding of various “biotics” on the gut microbiome and other areas like metabolic health, immunity and mental health.

The program selected grant recipients through a rigorous evaluation process led by an international panel of experts in the gut microbiome field. Submissions came in from nine different countries in Asia-Pacific, which the expert panel assessed.

The inaugural grant highlights the growing recognition of gut health as a cornerstone of overall well-being across the Asia-Pacific region.The panel selected five proposals that demonstrated strong scientific merit, the potential to address critical health issues in the Asia-Pacific region and a close alignment with this year’s grant’s theme on gut health across the human lifespan.

Recipients and their projects

 In its grant selection criteria, dsm-firmenich prioritized proposals investigating HMOs and postbiotics — independently or combined with probiotics — to explore their effects on the gut microbiome and subsequent impacts on immunity, metabolism, aging and mental health.

The five dsm-firmenich Nutrition Research Grant recipients were:

• Assistant professor Bahrul Fikri, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia, for an observational study: HMOs in Breastmilk and their relation to Gut Bifodobacterium, Vitamin D and Immune Modulation in Infants
• Associate professor Chong Chun Wie, Monash University, Malaysia, for a randomized controlled trial: Assessing the Combination effect of HMOs and probiotics on an Overweight Cohort
• Associate professor Jeremy Lim, National University of Singapore, Singapore, for the pre-clinical study: Identification of Postbiotics and HMOs that Improve Gut Microbiome and Host Health in Asian Adults 
• Professor Ji-Yeon Kim, Seoul National University of Science & Technology, South Korea, for the animal model study: Postbiotics and HMOs as a Modulator of Cellular Senescence by Enhancing Gut Barrier Function
• Professor Yongsoon Park, Hanyang University, South Korea, for the randomized controlled trial: Effects of Postbiotics on Mood Disorders in Korean Adults

“At dsm-firmenich, we are deeply committed to delivering science-backed solutions that elevate preventive health and address region-specific challenges,” says Tina Low, SVP, HNC, Asia-Pacific at dsm-firmenich. 

“The Nutrition Research Grant embodies our mission of ‘together elevating health’ by fostering collaboration with the scientific community to advance gut health research relevant to the unique lifestyles and diets of Asia-Pacific populations. Understanding the effects of our health-from-the-gut ingredients in this diverse region is critical to developing more tailored and efficacious solutions across life stages.”

In recent gut health market developments, scientists in the EU outlined a new strategic roadmap for prebiotic health claims to gain regulatory recognition in food and supplements. Currently, the term prebiotics has not been authorized in the region for use as a health claim, nor are there recommendations on how to achieve this.

In a Nutrition Insight webinar, “From discomfort to wellness: Consumer voices and probiotic science in gut health,” Novonesis examined the latest gut health market trends, consumer insights and clinically studied probiotics, stressing the importance of the gut microbiome beyond digestive health.