This is an image of intestines from a nutritionally poor diet (left) combined with another image of intestines treated with our new nanoparticle drug therapy (right).

Environmental enteropthy, which afflicts many children in the developing world who lack access to proper food sources, is associated with decreased IQ and increased risk of gastrointestinal infections, which do not correct even when placed on a normal diet. We are studying this disease in a mouse model, and combined nanotechnology with intestinal stem cell expertise to engineer nanoparticles which when eaten, induce the stem cells to grow and correct the histological phenotype. These images capture that initial disease state and the change when fed these new nanoparticles.