steven frese

Steven Frese

Assistant Professor

Summary

Interest

Ancient relationships between hosts and microbes provide insight into key biological processes including digestion, infection, nutrition, resistance to disease, immune programming, and metabolic development. By understanding these relationships, and how they are created or maintained, my work seeks to build rational, translational technologies and therapies. Using biotechnology, molecular biology, and an understanding of ecological and evolutionary relationships, we aim to improve our understanding of the gut microbiome and food. We also work to actively facilitate the dissemination of these discoveries and innovations to practice in industry, medicine, and research.

Accomplishments

Funding Awards

  • National Institutes for Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Ruth Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship. 2015 “The Impact of Milk Glycopeptide and Bifidobacterium on the Weaning Gut Microbiome” F32AT00853301

Patents

  • Nutrititive compositions with bioactive proteins.”
    WO2021021765A1. 2019.
  • “Compositions and methods to promote host defense and stimulate, expand, and/or reset T-cell repertoires.”
    WO2019232513A1. 2018.
  • “Compostions and method of use for H5-competent Bifidobacterium Longum subsp. infantis”
    US Patent Application. 2018. 20220010267
  • “Novel oligosaccharides for use in prebiotic applications”
    US Patent Application. 2018. 2021016924
  • “Diagnosis and treatment of dysbiosis associated with NEC.” WO2020142755A1. 2019.
  • “Activation of conditionally-expressed oligosaccharide pathways during fermentation of probiotic strains.” WO2019143871A1. 2018.
  • “Method for determining dysbiosis in the intestinal microbiome.” WO2019136186A2. 2018.
  • “Oligosaccharide compositions and their use during transitional phases of the mammalian gut microbiome.” WO2019055717A1. 2017.
  • “Metabolomic revision of mammalian infants.” WO2019055718A1. 2017.
  • “Method for facilitation maturation of the mammalian immune system.” WO2018006080A1. 2016.
  • “Food compositions for weaning.” WO2017156548A1. 2016.
  • “Transient commensal microorganisms for improving gut health.” WO2017156550A1. 2016.
  • “Compositions that metabolize or sequester free sugar monomers and uses thereof.” WO2016149149A1. 2015.
  • “Reduction of milk glycans and their degradation products in the neonate gut.” WO2016094836A1. 2014.

Awards, Honors, & Professional Recognition

  • University of Nevada Foundation, Early Career Innovator Award (2022).
  • European Probiotic Association, Jules Tournut Probiotics Prize for innovative and significant contributions to probiotic research in animal nutrition (2014)  

Education

B.S. Allegheny College
Ph.D. University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Publications

Journals

Bifidobacterium infantis treatment promotes weight gain in Bangladeshi infants with severe acute malnutrition

2022

Science Translational Medicine (14): 640

Barratt MJ, Nuzhat S, Ahsan K, Frese SA, Arzamasov AA, Sarker SA, Islam MM, Palit P, Islam MR, Hibberd MC, Nakshatri S, Cowardin CA, Guruge JL, Byrne AE, Venkatesh S, Sundaresan V, Henrick B, Duar RM, Mitchell RD, Casaburi G, Prambs J, Flannery R, Mahfuz M, Rodionov DA, Osterman AL, Kyle D, Ahmed T, Gordon JI.

A single-blind, placebo-controlled trial (SYNERGIE) was conducted in 2- to 6-month-old Bangladeshi infants with SAM. A commercial U.S. donor–derived B. infantis strain (EVC001) was administered daily...

Bifidobacteria-mediated immune system imprinting early in life

2021

Cell Volume 184, Issue 15, 22 July 2021, Pages 3884-3898.e11

Henrick, B.M., Rodriguez, L., Lakshmikanth, T., Pou, C., Henckel, E., Arzoomand, A., Olin, A., Wang, J., Mikes, J., Tan, Z., Chen, Y., Ehrlich, A.M., Bernhardsson, A.K., Mugabo, C.H., Ambrosiani, Y., Gustafsson, A., Chew, S., Brown, H.K., Prambs, J., Bohlin, K., Mitchell, R.D. Underwood, M.A., Smilowitz, J.T., German, J. B., Frese, S.A., Brodin, P.