Zakee L. Sabree, assistant professor, EEOB, received a three-year, $509, 903 NSF grant to study “Bacteria-mediated gut development and symbiont genome evolution in a model invertebrate.” This allows Sabree’s research group to investigate how the gut microbiome can positively impact health and development of animals, linking beneficial gut symbionts to positive developmental outcomes, including normal growth, maturation and healthy gut cellular and tissue development. They will use a novel insect model system — the American cockroach, Periplaneta Americana, significant because it shares many dietary, physiological and microbial similarities with omnivorous mammals, like humans