Press Release
Featured Press
At Digbi Health, we continue to look for better solutions in personalized wellness and care. To this effect, we are proud to announce an upcoming research collaboration with The West Virginia University Medicine Medical and WVU Bariatrics Surgical Weight-Loss Program. The study will utilize Digbi Health’s personalized digital therapeutics platform to better understand the role of the gut microbiome and human genetics in postoperative weight loss and maintenance. The clinical pilot will evaluate the effectiveness of Digbi Health’s obesity management digital program personalized to each bariatric surgery patient, one-year post sleeve gastrectomy. It will be fine-tuned based on the patient’s lifestyle, genetics, and gut microbiome risks to assist with weight loss as well as maintaining a healthy weight. Through this collaboration with WVU Medical, we aim to further explore the critical importance of personalized nutrition and its direct impact on people suffering from obesity and associated metabolic illnesses. A long-term solution for Obesity Obesity is a complex metabolic disease and an ongoing global epidemic, with associated inflammatory, digestive, musculoskeletal, skin morbidities. Moreover, it is a risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, and could lead to reduced life expectancy. Bariatric surgery is an effective long-term intervention for morbid obesity. Yet, to reap the best outcomes from bariatric surgery, the patients need to make lifelong healthy changes in eating patterns. Social support is also a major factor in making the changes stick. Research indicates that individuals’ genetic and gut microbiome are intrinsically linked to their metabolism. Digbi Cares’ personalized meal plans and nutrition guidelines are curated to an individual’s genetic and gut microbiome markers, thus contributing to successful post-op weight loss and helping with weight maintenance. Nova Szoka MD, FACS, FASMBS, Assistant Professor at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, WVU Bariatrics Surgical Weight-Loss Center is the principal investigator of the study. Dr. Skoza has said that “WVU Bariatrics is excited to partner with Digbi Health to better understand how genomic, gut microbiome, and metabolomic factors can contribute to successful weight loss following bariatric surgery.”