About

Mara completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford (Zoology/Neuroscience interface), where her thesis examined how dietary composition shapes cognitive flexibility in capuchin monkeys. She moved to Göttingen on a DFG-funded postdoctoral fellowship, drawn by the DPZ's world-class primate facilities and its growing interest in microbiome-cognition links. What began as a fairly niche chapter in her thesis, the role of gut microbiota in serotonin signalling across primate lineages, has since become the core of her research programme. She started writing publicly because she noticed a gap: the gut-brain axis literature was either buried in paywalled journals, or it was being consumed by the wellness industry and stripped of all nuance. Neither served the curious, scientifically literate reader she wished existed in greater numbers. The blog is her attempt to bridge that gap, rigorous, honest, and written for people who can handle complexity without needing it dumbed down.

Dr. Mara Voss