Agricultural and Life Sciences (IFAS)
Taft Lab
Led by Diana Taft · Food Science and Human Nutrition
What we study
The Taft Lab studies how diet and environment shape the infant gut microbiome, focusing on how dietary fiber supports beneficial bacteria and how diet affects antimicrobial resistance. The lab explores dietary interventions to improve gut health and reduce harmful bacteria.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Clinical
- Computational
- Bacteria & microbes
- Human participants
- Coding helps
- Project
- 1
- Papers
- 5
What we're looking for
“Dr. Taft’s lab welcomes students to apply for a) graduate assistantship positions and b) undergraduate research training experiences.”
Current projects
Dietary Monosaccharide Composition and Potential Association with Uremic Toxin Levels in Hemodialysis Patients
The lab studies how the types of simple sugars in the diet of people on hemodialysis affect levels of toxins that build up in the blood. Using dietary recalls from 11 patients, the student calculates sugar content and runs regression models to see if any sugar is linked to toxin levels.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 338
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Efficacy of yeast mannan supplementation on increasing stool frequency in adults: a randomized controlled trial
2026 · Trials
Tests if yeast mannans make people poop more often.
- Nutritional intervention trial of yeast mannans derived from baker's yeast enriches Bacteroides and Parabacteroides with concurrent reduction of Klebsiella pneumoniae
2026 · Frontiers in Microbiology
Tests how yeast mannans affect gut bacteria and health in adults.
Show 3 more papersShow fewer
- Neighborhood deprivation and infant feeding are associated with the developing gut resistome in a U.S. urban birth cohort
2026 · Annals of Epidemiology
- Measuring Body Composition and Resting Energy Expenditure in Adults With Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS): A Protocol for Feasibility, Validity, and Reliability Study
2026 · Current Developments in Nutrition
Checks if tools measure body size and energy use in people with PWS.
- Metabolic Phenotyping Identifies Distinct Urinary Anti-Adhesion Phenotypes and Differential Responses to Cranberry Juice Intake in Healthy Women
2026 · Nutrients
Shows how women's urine fights infections and responds to cranberry juice.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Diana Taft hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.