Katherine Daiy

Katherine Daiy serves as a President's Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Anthropology at The Ohio State University, where she is affiliated with the Health and Environment Modeling Co-Laboratory. Her research investigates how local environmental factors shape host biology during critical windows of early development, with particular emphasis on the human microbiome and its implications for lifelong health trajectories.

Her scholarly focus centers on the developmental origins of health and disease, exploring how urbanization, nutrition transitions, and globalization impact maternal and child health outcomes, microbiome composition, and non-communicable disease risk. Fieldwork across Argentina, Samoa, and Brazil enables her to examine diverse populations through interdisciplinary lenses combining biological anthropology, microbiology, and public health.

Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent exploration of gut microbiome dynamics in relation to neurodevelopment (using both human and nonhuman primate models), cultural determinants of body image in transitioning societies, and innovative biomarkers for energy balance assessment. Her work bridges biological mechanisms with sociocultural contexts to understand health disparities.

Scientific Awards:

• President's Postdoctoral Scholar

Dr. Daiy actively contributes to major international research initiatives including the NSF-funded Ecoculturing the Infant Gut Microbiome Project in Brazil, the Chaco Area Reproductive Ecology Project in Argentina, and the Samoan Obesity, Lifestyle, and Genetic Adaptations Project. These collaborations demonstrate her commitment to cross-cultural, team-based approaches to complex health questions.

As a core member of OSU's Health and Environment Modeling Co-Laboratory, she participates in interdisciplinary efforts to model interactions between environmental exposures, biological systems, and health outcomes using advanced computational and field-based methodologies.