2011 to present
Pediatric Health and GI Research
Clinical trials and observational studies on infant microbiome, probiotic therapies, functional gastrointestinal disorders, and related pediatric conditions.
Location
Texas Children's Hospital network and UTHealth Houston
Indexed papers
2
About the program
Pediatric GI research has centered on the pragmatic question of whether microbiome-directed therapies help infants with functional disorders. The Lactobacillus reuteri RCT for infantile colic, a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial, has become a reference point in the probiotics-for-colic literature. Adjacent work evaluates the mycobiome, food allergies, and microbiome-immune interactions in early life, and ongoing work is evaluating combination probiotics in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Key findings
- 01
A well-designed RCT of Lactobacillus reuteri did not demonstrate clinically meaningful benefit over placebo for infantile colic in a formula-fed-majority U.S. cohort, sharpening subsequent dosing and subgroup analyses in the field.
- 02
Mycobiome characterization in children with autism and GI symptoms shows that fungi, not just bacteria, deserve attention in infant gut research.
- 03
Food allergy interactions with glutathione S-transferase genotypes may modulate symptom severity in ASD children, linking pediatric GI work back to the ERAJ program.
Collaborators
- Dr. J. Marc Rhoads (UTHealth McGovern Medical School)
- Dr. Yuying Liu (UTHealth)
- Dr. Nicole Fatheree (UTHealth)
Publications in this program
- 2022Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition23 citations
Fungi: friend or foe? A mycobiome evaluation in children with autism and gastrointestinal symptoms
Alookaran J, Liu Y, Auchtung TA, Tahanan A, Hessabi M, Asgarisabet P, et al.
- 2017Journal of Pediatrics92 citations
Lactobacillus reuteri for infants with colic: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial
Fatheree NY, Liu Y, Taylor CM, Hoang TK, Cai C, Rahbar MH, et al.