Samitinjaya Dhakal

Samitinjaya Dhakal is an Assistant Professor affiliated with the School of Health and Human Sciences at South Dakota State University (SDSU). His research focuses on the intersection of nutrition, gut microbiota, and metabolic health, with an emphasis on understanding how dietary components influence cognitive function, microbial diversity, and systemic metabolism. Key areas of investigation include the effects of red meat consumption on nutritional adequacy and mental health, the role of resistant starch in bile acid metabolism, and the modulation of gut microbiota through controlled dietary interventions.

He has conducted randomized controlled trials to evaluate protein sources (e.g., pork vs. chicken) and their impacts on metabolite profiles, microbial communities, and cardiovascular risk markers. Notable studies explore associations between dietary patterns—such as Healthy Eating Index scores—and cognitive outcomes in older adults, as well as weight-loss responses linked to microbiota composition in retail weight-management programs.

His work integrates systems biology approaches, metabolomics, and microbiome analysis to address questions in nutritional science, with findings published in peer-reviewed journals since 2019. No specific grants or awards are listed in the available text, but his research demonstrates strong methodological rigor through controlled-feeding trial designs and cross-sectional analyses.