Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center offers an endowed fellowship in microbiome research. This postdoctoral fellowship will be awarded annually to support excellence in microbiome research related to the center's focus areas, including projects involving microbiome connections to gut-brain signaling, immune function, and metabolism.

Application submissions are closed.

Postdoctoral fellow 2025 - 2026

Takahiro Ohara, PhD; Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA Life Sciences

Research: Microbiota regulation of gut enterochromaffin cell dynamics
Mentor: Elaine Y. Hsiao, PhD; De Logi Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Integrative Biology and Physiology
Funding: $100,000; August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026
Core usage: Gnotobiotics; Microbiome

Dr. Ohara is a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA, where he aims to understand the complex interaction between the microbiome, intestinal epithelium, and nervous system. He completed his BS in molecular, cell and developmental biology at UCLA and began his research journey with an interest in stem cell biology and tissue regeneration. He went on to complete his PhD in immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied the response of the intestinal epithelium to tissue inflammation and injury. Fascinated by the complexity of the gut and its interaction with multiple biological systems, he joined Dr. Hsiao's Lab at UCLA to study how the microbiome regulates the gut endocrine system and engages with gut-brain neuroepithelial circuits. His current project focuses on the impact of the gut microbiota on the turnover of enterochromaffin cells.