Brian D. Piccolo

Brian D. Piccolo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), College of Medicine, and is affiliated with the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center (ACNC). He leads biostatistical and data innovation initiatives and conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of nutrition, microbiome science, and metabolism.

His research focuses on understanding how diet and host factors shape the gut microbiota and influence energy metabolism. Using preclinical models, his lab investigates microbial-host crosstalk, particularly during early dietary transitions and in metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes. The Piccolo laboratory specializes in analyzing complex datasets from metabolomics and microbial sequencing, employing advanced multivariate methods, prediction modeling, network analysis, and unsupervised learning techniques. They also develop interactive data visualization tools using Shiny for streamlined data workflows.

While specific publications are not listed in the provided text, his work centers on identifying microbial and metabolic biomarkers in disease progression and assessing the impact of early-life interventions such as exercise and complementary feeding on microbiome development. His expertise supports both ACNC and external scientific collaborators in high-throughput data interpretation.

Dr. Piccolo completed his B.S. in Nutritional Sciences at Bastyr University and earned his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biology from the University of California, Davis. He pursued postdoctoral training in bioinformatics at the West Coast Metabolomics Center and the USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center, both at UC Davis. He joined ACNC in 2015 and currently serves as Associate Director of the Biostatistics and Data Innovation Team.

• Google Scholar
• Dynamic Assessment of Microbial Ecology (DAME)
• GitHub
• Group Correlation Matrix

Dr. Piccolo advises researchers in data analysis and contributes to collaborative science across institutions. His lab plays a key role in enhancing data-driven discovery in nutritional and microbiome sciences. He has no listed scientific awards in the provided material. Outside of research, he enjoys cooking, traveling with his wife, racquetball, and biking.

The Piccolo laboratory operates as part of the larger ACNC research ecosystem, focusing on data innovation and statistical support. The team leverages computational tools to extract biological insights from complex datasets and promotes open science through platforms like GitHub and interactive web applications.