Hariom Yadav, PhD

About Hariom Yadav

Yadav earned his PhD in biochemistry in 2006 at the National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal, Haryana, India. He served a postdoctoral fellowship in the diabetes, endocrinology and obesity branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland from 2007 to 2012. From 2012 to 2014, he was a Ramalingaswami fellow (scientist) at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute in Punjab, India. He was employed as a scientist and research fellow at NIDDK from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, he joined the department of internal medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He is also an adjunct faculty member of the department of microbiology and immunology.

Leaky gut, where microbial ingredients such as lipopolysaccharides leak out from the gut and stimulate low-grade inflammation, is the target of much of Yadav’s research activity. By increasing the production of short-chain fatty acids that inhibit leaky gut, progression of aging-related diseases such as diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease and cardiac dysfunction can be slowed, as they share a common pathology of increased low grade inflammation, which is linked to leaky gut. Yadav and his team are working on novel probiotics made from dead bacteria and have discovered a new kind of dietary fiber to reduce leaky gut. He is researching holistic delivery methods, where natural remedies such as probiotics/prebiotics/postbiotics can be added to foods to benefit people’s health and hopes to develop their translational potential by initiating clinical studies.

Another aspect of Yadav’s research is investigating the interactions of microbiome bacteria with the many types of cells present in the human gut. Those interactions impact signaling communication between the gut and the brain. With deeper understanding of that communication, Yadav believes that more targeted and effective therapies can be developed for conditions when signaling is disrupted, such as obesity.

Yadav also studies various diets and how they impact the microbiome, potentially to the benefit of health. He is assessing how the Mediterranean diet and the ketogenic diet may impact Alzheimer’s-related diseases. He is also involved with a clinical trial looking at how exercise and dietary restriction change the microbiome and affect leaky gut.

Yadav is quite interested in establishing partnerships with industry to commercialize his novel probiotic, prebiotic and fiber products. He believes that both have substantial commercial potential. He would like to collaborate with food producers or other manufacturers with involvement in the sector who wish to support the research. Probiotics and prebiotics are commonly used in various forms of animal feed, and Yadav’s formulations would present improvements in those supplements. He also offers his research models, lab techniques and facilities to potential industry partners lacking those resources.