New interviews: Dr. Carolyn Slupsky and Chrysoula Dimopoulou

Within PIG-PARADIGM, professor Carolyn Slupsky (UC Davis)'s team is investigating how maternal diet shapes piglet outcomes. In our latest article, Dr. Slupsky shares why the group is exploring nopal, the prickly pear cactus pad, as a potential feed ingredient for sows.

Grown in arid regions, nopal is a climate-resilient, fiber-rich plant that could help support a more robust gut microbiome in sows and, in turn, healthier outcomes for their piglets. The team’s work highlights the importance of complex carbohydrates in nurturing beneficial microbes, strengthening immune resilience, and reducing vulnerability to infection. You can learn more about this study in our lateset article.

We are also excited to welcome Chrysoula Dimopoulou, who recently joined the PIG-PARADIGM project as a postdoc researcher. Originally from Athens, Greece, Chrysoula has been living in Copenhagen for many years, where she completed her master’s at the University of Copenhagen and later earned her PhD at DTU. Her academic path has taken her through clinical research, molecular genetics, and microbiology, with a strong focus on the gut microbiome - you can read more in this new interview article