Savita Sastry is a Ph.D. candidate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, mentored by Dr. Tolunay Aydemir. Her research integrates experimental and computational approaches to uncover how zinc deficiency reshapes spatial host–microbe–nutrient interactions in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Combining multi-omics analyses, region-specific murine models, and ex vivo organoid systems, she investigates how zinc availability influences microbial function, intestinal barrier integrity, and tissue regeneration. Savita also develops computational pipelines to translate murine genomics and metagenomics insights to human datasets, aiming to define conserved nutrient–microbiome pathways that inform precision nutrition strategies for gut health and disease.

Multiomics Approach to Regionally Profile Zinc-Driven Host-Gut Microbiome Interactions in the Intestinal Tract S Sastry, SB Mitchell, A Glick, TL Thorn, TB Aydemir bioRxiv 2025.07.02.662895; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.07.02.662895

B.S., University of California, Davis