Raylene Reimer

About her:

Dr. Reimer is a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. She is also a Registered Dietitian. Her research focuses on the role of diet in regulating energy intake and gut microbiota in the context of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diseases such as fatty liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease. She has done extensive research in animal models to study how maternal diet during pregnancy influences offspring's gut microbiota, satiety hormone production and ultimately obesity risk. Her studies have identified prebiotic fibre as a potentially valuable dietary intervention in establishing a new lower set point for energy intake and adiposity in obese and non-obese animal models. Translating findings from animal models to human clinical studies is a key way in which Dr. Reimer spans bench to bedside discovery and application. Her ongoing randomized controlled trials with prebiotics help take evidence-based findings into clinical and consumer application. Dr. Reimer was one of 12 experts worldwide to recently draft and publish the updated definition and consensus statement on prebiotics. In 2012, Dr. Reimer was honored with the Centrum New Scientist Award for Outstanding Research by the Canadian Nutrition Society.

About her talk:

"Prebiotics: Potential for managing overweight and obesity in children"

Obesity in childhood tends to persist into adulthood. This presentation will describe the potential role of prebiotic fibers in managing childhood obesity. Changes in metabolic, inflammatory and gut microbiota outcomes will be discussed.