Maria Carlota Dao

Assistant Professor
Phone: (603) 862-4723
Office: UNH Agriculture, Nutrition, & Food Systems, Kendall Hall, Durham, NH 03824
Maria Carlota Dao

Dr. Maria Carlota Dao is an Assistant Professor of Human Nutrition in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems at the University of New Hampshire. As an interdisciplinary scientist focused on obesity research, she investigates the interplay of cardiometabolic risks, dietary and psychosocial factors, and the gut microbiota. Through this work she seeks to address obesity in health disparity populations. Prior to becoming a faculty member at UNH, Dr. Dao worked as a scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Her training includes a postdoctoral fellowship at the Sorbonne University and INSERM (Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition) in France, and a PhD in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

For a complete list of Dr. Dao's publications, please visit: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WIj7JvQAAAAJ&hl=en

Visit our lab webpage: https://mypages.unh.edu/dao-lab/people/maria-carlota-dao

Education

  • Ph.D., Tufts University
  • M.A., Tufts University
  • B.A., Boston University

Research Interests

  • Health Disparities
  • Malnutrition
  • Microbiome
  • Nutritional Physiology
  • Obesity

Courses Taught

  • BMS 799H: Senior Honors Thesis
  • NUTR 720/820: Community Nutrition
  • NUTR 927: Nutr Gut Micr

Selected Publications

Molinaro, A., Bel Lassen, P., Henricsson, M., Wu, H., Adriouch, S., Belda, E., . . . Bäckhed, F. (n.d.). Imidazole propionate is increased in diabetes and associated with dietary patterns and altered microbial ecology. Nature Communications, 11(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19589-w

Guo, W., Wu, D., Dao, M. C., Li, L., Lewis, E. D., Ortega, E. F., . . . Meydani, S. N. (2020). A Novel Combination of Fruits and Vegetables Prevents Diet-Induced Hepatic Steatosis and Metabolic Dysfunction in Mice. The Journal of Nutrition, 150(11), 2950-2960. doi:10.1093/jn/nxaa259

Vieira-Silva, S., Falony, G., Belda, E., Nielsen, T., Aron-Wisnewsky, J., Chakaroun, R., . . . Raes, J. (2020). Statin therapy is associated with lower prevalence of gut microbiota dysbiosis. Nature, 581(7808), 310-315. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2269-x

Brouzes, C. M. C., Darcel, N., Tomé, D., Dao, M. C., Bourdet-Sicard, R., Holmes, B. A., & Lluch, A. (2020). Urban Egyptian Women Aged 19–30 Years Display Nutrition Transition-Like Dietary Patterns, with High Energy and Sodium Intakes, and Insufficient Iron, Vitamin D, and Folate Intakes. Current Developments in Nutrition, 4(2), nzz143. doi:10.1093/cdn/nzz143

Al Assal, K., Prifti, E., Belda, E., Sala, P., Clément, K., Dao, M. -C., . . . Waitzberg, D. L. (2020). Gut Microbiota Profile of Obese Diabetic Women Submitted to Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Its Association with Food Intake and Postoperative Diabetes Remission.. Nutrients, 12(2). doi:10.3390/nu12020278

Dao, M. C., Saltzman, E., Page, M., Reece, J., Mojtahed, T., Wu, D., & Meydani, S. N. (n.d.). Lack of Differences in Inflammation and T Cell-Mediated Function between Young and Older Women with Obesity. Nutrients, 12(1), 237. doi:10.3390/nu12010237

Kayser, B. D., Prifti, E., Lhomme, M., Belda, E., Dao, M. -C., Aron-Wisnewsky, J., . . . Clément, K. (2019). Elevated serum ceramides are linked with obesity-associated gut dysbiosis and impaired glucose metabolism. Metabolomics, 15(11). doi:10.1007/s11306-019-1596-0

Dao, M. C., Belda, E., Prifti, E., Everard, A., Kayser, B. D., Bouillot, J. -L., . . . Clément, K. (2019). Akkermansia muciniphila abundance is lower in severe obesity, but its increased level after bariatric surgery is not associated with metabolic health improvement.. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 317(3), E446-E459. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00140.2019

Dao, M. C., Messer, E., Conigliaro, T., Sakaida, K., Ouellette, A. F., Himaras, V., . . . Roberts, S. B. (2019). Different and Unequal: A Qualitative Evaluation of Salient Factors Influencing Energy Intake in Adults with Overweight and Obesity. NUTRIENTS, 11(6). doi:10.3390/nu11061365

Dao, M. C., Subar, A. F., Warthon-Medina, M., Cade, J. E., Burrows, T., Golley, R. K., . . . Holmes, B. A. (2019). Dietary assessment toolkits: an overview.. Public Health Nutr, 22(3), 404-418. doi:10.1017/S1368980018002951

Most Cited Publications