Dr. Ana Paula Schaan

Human gut microbiome to modulate cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the main cause of death worldwide, and the increasing rates of urbanization is considered to be a major contributor to CVD prevalence. Urban lifestyles have also been associated with changes to gut microbiome function and diversity. The metabolization of cholesterol by the gut microbiome has recently attracted interest given its potential implication for CVD. Previous work has shown that gut bacteria are capable of degrading intestinal cholesterol into sterols that can be excreted in the stool. However, to date, there are no identified human-derived microbial isolates capable of cholesterol metabolization available for research. Despite recent advances, our knowledge of the diversity and population-level distribution of this function is extremely limited. 

Here, I plan to undertake an extensive characterization of bacterial cholesterol metabolism in the human gut. I will focus on the discovery, identification, and genomic profiling of cholesterol-active species. Further, I will use this knowledge to explore how this function affects host health and CVD risk. Historically, microbiome science has been biased in favor of high-income countries. Therefore, ensuring that global populations can benefit from clinical microbiome strategies is urgent. I am uniquely positioned to tackle this project, which has the novelty of including diverse populations as a guiding approach, and has the potential to make a high impact in local and global communities.

• 2024: Kiel Life Sciences Early Career Postdoc Award (€ 6000), Kiel University.
• 2021 – 2022:Fulbright Doctorate Dissertation Research Award (10 months), Alm Lab, Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Eric Alm. Position: Visiting student researcher - Human gut microbiome anaerobic culturing and biobanking; metagenomics data analysis

• Since 2024: Kiel Life Sciences, Associate member
• Since 2023:  Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation Cluster of Excellence (PMI), Associate , (Postdoc) member
• Since 2019: Global Microbiome Conservancy (GMbC), representing Brazil (microbiomeconservancy.org)

• Disease signatures in the gut metagenome of a prospective family cohort of inflammatory bowel disease. bioRxiv (2024) M Rühlemann, 3 co-authors, A Schaan, 14 co-authors, M Groussin. doi: 10.1101/2023.12.10.23299783
• Temporal dynamics of gut microbiomes in non-industrialized urban Amazonia. mSystems (2024) Schaan AP, 5 co-authors, Ribeiro-dos-Santos A. doi: 10.1101/2023.05.11.540371
• Costa GM, Costa SS, Baraúna RA, Castilho B, Pinheiro I, Silva A, Schaan AP, Ribeiro-dos-Santos A, Graças D., 2023.Effects of Degradation on Microbial Communities of an Amazonian Mangrove. Microorganisms. doi:10.3390/microorganisms11061389
• Schaan AP, Sarquis D, Cavalcante G, Magalhães L, Sacuena P, Costa J, Fonseca D, Mello V, Guerreiro J, Ribeiro-dos-Santos A., 2021. The Structure of Brazilian Amazonian Gut Microbiomes in the Process of Urbanisation. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes. doi: 10.1038/s41522-021- 00237-0
• Reis Conceição MV, Schaan AP, Ribeiro-dos-Santos A, Silva A, Graças D, Schneider MP, Baraúna R, 2021. Amazonia Seasons have an influence in the Composition of Bacterial Gut Microbiota of Mangrove Oysters (Crassostrea gasar). Frontiers in Genetics. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.602608
• Schaan AP, Gusmão L, Jannuzzi J, Modesto A, Amador M, Marques D, Rabenhorst S, Montenegro R, Lopes T, Yoshioka F, Pinto G, Santos S, Ribeiro-dos-Santos A., 2020. New insights on intercontinental origins of paternal lineages in Northeast Brazil. BMC Evolutionary Biology. doi: 10.1186/s12862-020-1579-9