Dr. Madelyn Houser is a research track Assistant Professor affiliated with the Center for Data Science in the School of Nursing. She is experienced in biomedical and basic research and has the technical skills to conduct rigorous, reproducible analyses of large data sets including those generated in omics assays.

Dr. Houser’s undergraduate training was in biochemistry and microbiology. She then earned her Ph.D. in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis from Emory’s Laney Graduate School. Her dissertation demonstrated the potential for intestinal inflammation to contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease. She maintained her focus on perturbations of the gut environment and inflammation as a postdoc with Dr. Vicki Hertzberg in the SON Center for Data Science, continuing studies on Parkinson’s disease and applying similar approaches in projects related to other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as to heat-related illness and hypertension. Dr. Houser has extensive laboratory and computational research experience in studies of the interplay between gut microbes and the host immune system and the role of inflammatory processes in chronic disease.

1. Yang I, Alford T, Brewster G, Geurs N, Wharton W, Yeager K, Houser MC. Oral Microbiome and Cognition Among Black Cancer Caregivers. Nurs Res. 2024 Oct 1. [Epub ahead of print].

2. Giordano NA, Houser MC, Pelkman J, Pasquel FJ, Pak V, Rogers AE, Yeager KA, Mucha S, Schmitt M, Miller AH. Longitudinal Fatigue Symptoms and Inflammatory Markers in African American Adults With Hypertension and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Nurs Res. 2024 Sep 27;. [Epub ahead of print].

3. Kimble LP, Khosroshahi A, Brewster GS, Dunbar SB, Ryan D, Carlson N, Eldridge R, Houser M, Corwin E. Associations between TCA cycle plasma metabolites and fatigue in black females with systemic lupus erythematosus: An untargeted metabolomics pilot study. Lupus. 2024 Aug;33(9):948-961.

4. Chicas RC, Elon L, Xiuhtecutli N, Liang D, Houser MC, Mwarumba T, Berra L, Hertzberg V, Sands JM, McCauley L. Longitudinal Renal Function Degradation Among Florida Agricultural Workers. J Occup Environ Med. 2024 Sep 1;66(9):694-705.

5. Bai J, Eldridge RC, Martin M, Powell C, Sutton KS, Houser M, Noh HI, Richardson B, Wu Y, Shen N, Olson T, Konstantinidis KT, Bruner DW. Multi-omics analysis of the gut microbiome and metabolites associated with psychoneurological symptoms in children with solid tumors with chemotherapy. J Translat Med. 2024 Mar 9;22(1):256.

6. Lin Y, Peng G, Bruner DW, Miller AH, Saba NF, Higgins KA, Shin DM, Claussen H, Johnston HR, Houser MC, Wommack EC. Associations of differentially expressed genes with psychoneurological symptoms in patients with head and neck cancer: A longitudinal study. J Psychosom Res. 2023 Dec;175:111518.

7. Chicas RC, Wang Y, Weil EJ, Elon L, Xiuhtecutli N, Houser MC, Jones DP, Sands JM, Hertzberg V, McCauley L, Liang D. The impact of heat exposures on biomarkers of AKI and plasma metabolome among agricultural and non-agricultural workers. Environ Int. 2023 Sep 14;180:108206.

8. Eldridge RC, Qin ZS, Saba N, Houser MC, Hayes DN, Miller AH, Bruner DW, Jones DP, Xiao C. Unsupervised Hierarchical Clustering of Head and Neck Cancer Patients by Pre-Treatment Plasma Metabolomics Creates Prognostic Metabolic Subtypes. Cancers. 2023 Jun;15(12):3184.

9. Macpherson KP+, Eidson LN+, Houser MC+, Weiss BE, Gollihue JL, Herrick M, de Sousa Rodrigues ME, Sniffen L, Weekman EM, Hamilton AM, Kelly SD, Oliver DL, Yang Y, Chang J, Sampson TS, Norris CM, Tansey MG. Soluble TNF mediates amyloid-independent, diet-induced alterations to immune and neuronal functions in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Front Cell Neurosci. 2023 Mar 15;17:895017.

10. Houser MC, Smith DJ, Rhodes D, Glick-Smith JL, Chovan P, Ferranti E, Dunbar SB, Tansey MG, Hertzberg V, Mac VV. Inflammatory profiles, gut microbiome, and kidney function are impacted after high-fidelity firefighter training. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2023 Mar;248:114107.

11. Houser MC, Caudle WM, Chang J, Kannarkat GT, Yang Y, Kelly SD, Oliver D, Joers V, Shannon KM, Keshavarzian A, Tansey MG. Experimental colitis promotes sustained, sex-dependent, T-cell-associated neuroinflammation and parkinsonian neuropathology. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2021 Aug 19;9(1):139.

12. Houser MC+, Mac V+, Smith DJ, Chicas RC, Xiuhtecutli N, Flocks JD, Elon L, Tansey MG, Sands JM, McCauley L, Hertzberg VS. Inflammation-related factors identified as biomarkers of dehydration and subsequent acute kidney injury in agricultural workers. Biol Res Nurs. 2021 Oct;23(4):676-688. Epub 2021 May 21.

13. Aho, V+, Houser MC+, Pereira PAB, Chang J, Rudi K, Paulin L, Hertzberg VS, Auvinen PG, Tansey MG, Scheperjans F. Relationships of gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids, inflammation, and the gut barrier in Parkinson's disease. Mol Neurodegener. 2021 Feb 8;16(1):6.

14. Houser MC, Chang J, Factor SA, Molho ES, Zabetian CP, Hill-Burns EM, Payami H, Hertzberg VS, Tansey MG. Stool Immune Profiles Evince Gastrointestinal Inflammation in Parkinson's Disease. Mov Disord. 2018 May;33(5):793-804.

15. Houser MC, Tansey MG. The gut-brain axis: is intestinal inflammation a silent driver of Parkinson's disease pathogenesis? NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2017 Jan 11;3:3.

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Dr. Houser works collaboratively with numerous research teams, contributing topical as well as methods expertise and technical skills in bioinformatics and analysis of omics data sets. Her current projects include studies of gut-brain connections in ALS and Alzheimer’s disease, mechanisms of heat-related illness and kidney disease in agricultural workers, factors which contribute to symptom severity in individuals living with multiple chronic health conditions, and microbiome, metabolome, and lipidome features that are associated with psychoneurological sequelae of cancer treatment. Consistent themes in Dr. Houser’s research are the integration of multiple data sources (often including microbiome, metabolomics, and/or inflammation-related data) and assessment of the interactions of complex systems to identify risk factors and contributors to health outcomes.

2024
Professional Development Scholarship, Columbia University Skills for Health and Research Professionals Multi-omics Boot Camp

2024
Best Poster Award in the Clinical category, Emory Digestive Disease Initiative (EDDI) Shanthi V. Sitaraman Symposium

2018
“Future of Science” Travel Scholarship, New Frontiers in Neuroinflammation Keystone Symposium

2017
Excellence in Teaching Award, Emory University Biology Laboratories

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