A ChemE PhD candidate is being recognized for research that could help advance personalized nutrition and deepen our understanding of the human gut microbiome. Rachel Asbury, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry supervised by Professors Bradley Saville and Radhakrishnan (Krishna) Mahadevan, received a student award at Probiota Americas 2026 in Vancouver on June 9, 2026 after presenting her research on how prebiotics selectively influence gut microbial communities.
Asbury received the award for her presentation, High-throughput culturomics reveals prebiotic selectivity within the gut microbiota. Her research was selected as the top-rated student abstract in the conference’s Scientific Frontiers program, earning her the opportunity to deliver an oral presentation to an audience of industry leaders, academic researchers, regulators and clinicians.
“Rachel was the only student to present at this prestigious industry conference,” says Saville. “She was selected because of the significance of the research and its relevance and impact. Her phenomenal presentation generated a lot of interest among attendees and was truly leading-edge science. We are immensely proud of her.”
Asbury’s research combines bioprocess engineering for prebiotic manufacturing with modeling of microbial systems to evaluate these prebiotics and other carbohydrates in vitro. While prebiotics can selectively support beneficial microbes, predicting which microbes will utilize specific carbohydrates—and how those interactions affect microbial communities—remains a significant challenge.
“By combining carbohydrate characterization, high-throughput culturing approaches and predictive modeling, we can better understand carbohydrate utilization by gut microbes,” says Asbury.
Her presentation focused on prebiotic selectivity, a defining characteristic of prebiotics that describes their ability to promote the growth of specific microbes within complex microbial communities.
“Demonstrating prebiotic selectivity is easier said than done, given the complexity of gut microbial communities and the variability in microbiome composition between individuals,” she says.
According to Saville, the work has important implications for the future of personalized nutrition.
“Rachel’s work has demonstrated the unique and important role of selectively supporting the growth of microbes in the digestive tract that are important for health,” he says. “She showed substantial differences in utilization between different prebiotics and different microbes. This knowledge is at the forefront of personalized nutrition and understanding the unique responses of individuals when they consume prebiotics, fibre and other key dietary nutrients.”
For Asbury, the recognition is particularly meaningful as she approaches the completion of her PhD.
“I was honoured to win the award,” she says. “I am familiar with the high calibre of research presented at this conference, so to have my work recognized was rewarding.”
She says the award provided an opportunity to share the broader impact of her research with a diverse audience across the microbiome community.
“As I near the completion of my PhD program, it has been rewarding to reflect on how my experimental and modeling work have contributed to new discoveries of how prebiotics modulate gut microbial communities. Having the opportunity to present these ideas to a broad audience across the microbiome community, including dietitians and other clinicians, academic researchers and industry leaders, was especially valuable and highlighted the relevance of our work.”
Asbury credits her supervisors, Professors Mahadevan and Saville, along with colleagues in the Laboratory for Metabolic Systems Engineering, the Bioprocess and Enzyme Technology Lab and BioZone, for supporting her throughout her doctoral journey.
Looking ahead, she is excited by the possibility of tailoring prebiotic interventions to individual microbiomes.
“The human gut microbiome is extremely complex, and there is a lot of variability in how individuals respond to prebiotics,” she says. “Advances in prebiotic bioprocessing, high-throughput approaches and modeling are creating exciting opportunities to better understand and target prebiotic interventions. I’m excited to contribute to this field and see the new discoveries that will continue to emerge as microbiome science advances.”