2020-2021 Danone North America Gut Microbiome, Yogurt and Probiotics Fellowship Grant open for applications

Now in its ninth year, the award of two $25,000 grants will be given to graduate students interested in exploring the gut microbiome, probiotics and yogurt to better understand how they help support and maintain human health and wellness.

To date, the Danone Fellowship Grant has provided support for wellness research on probiotic yogurt consumption during lactation; the use of foods as a delivery vector for beneficial bacteria; technology for studying the adaptation of fermentative microbes to milk; the effects of protein fermentation on the human microbiota and digestive health; and the relationship between probiotics, the gut microbiome and brain function.

Danone will be accepting applications from graduate students until February 14, 2021. The winners will be notified on April 1, 2021.

This year’s winners will be selected by a cross-functional panel of experts, including: Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D, dairy and food culture technologies consultant, and executive director of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics; Michael D. Gershon, M.D., Professor, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University, Vagelos College of P&S; and Miguel Freitas, Ph.D, vice president of scientific affairs, Danone North America.

Additional information, qualification requirements and the online application are available here​.