01 Independent research 2025–Present
Can Gut Bacteria Change the Brain?
Independent gut–brain axis & probiotic research
Whether biological changes linked to alcohol and caffeine exposure can be used to identify gut microbes worth testing as possible modulators of the gut–brain axis — worked out through metabolomic comparison, a computational ranking pipeline, and now experimental validation back at the bench.
- The wider USC research thread — where the wet-lab habits came from
Chapters & milestones
- 2025
Teaching an AI to Search for Probiotics
A long list of possible probiotic species is not useful without a principled way to decide which ones deserve experimental attention first. This chapter is about building that filter.
Chapter- Add a pipeline diagram or screenshot
- 2026
Taking the Gut-Brain Project to the LA County Science Fair
The project's first public outing: presenting the metabolomics and candidate-ranking work at the 2026 Los Angeles County Science & Engineering Fair.
★ Honorable Mention — Los Angeles County Science & Engineering FairChapter- Add the project board / poster used at the fair
- 2026
We've Come Full Circle: From Computer Predictions to the Wet Lab
Experiment → model → prediction → experiment. The computational pipeline can suggest what is worth testing, but eventually the model has to meet biology.
Chapter- Add validation-experiment images or figures