April 28-30, 2025

All Speakers

Dog and cat food research experts who will present at Petfood Forum & Petfood Essentials

Brian Klein
Principle Scientist Microbiome
dsm-firmenich
Brian Klein is a principal scientist within the Microbiome group in the Global Science & Research organization at dsm-firmenich, leading a team supporting all business units addressing the impact of biotics on human and companion animal health and wellness. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology at Bates College, then his Ph.D. in molecular microbiology at Tufts University School and Medicine as an NRSA F31 fellow studying microbe-microbe interactions and the effects of mutagenesis on the human oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. Klein was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship via the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and carried out work at the Harvard Dental School/Forsyth Institute to better understand athlete microbiomes and athletic facilities’ microorganisms. Prior to joining dsm-firmenich, he led the microbiology and translational medicine groups at Vedanta Biosciences and founded his own company, BrickBuilt Therapeutics; he then sold it to DermBiont Inc., where he worked until joining dsm-firmenich in 2022.
Date/TimeTitle
Tue Apr 29
1:30 PM - 2:35 PM
Pet food ingredient sessions: The pet microbiome and functional ingredients
KCCC 2105
  • Biotics in pet food and modulation of feline gut microbiome by diet and biotic supplementation — Jeff Alix, global head of business development, palatability and microbiome, and Brian Klein, Ph.D., principal scientist, microbiome, dsm-firmenich, review the pet industry biotics market and how new postbiotic ingredients will improve the health and wellness of dogs and cats. Then they review an in vivo trial conducted to evaluate the impact of a dual strain Lactobacillus postbiotic on the gut microbiome of healthy cats and focused on the effects during a dietary switch challenge. The differences in blood-based markers and microbiome sequence-based features demonstrated that a diet switch significantly impacted the gut microbiome of healthy cats and that a Lactobacillus-based postbiotic helps mitigate this challenge.
  • Repeatability of the effects of dietary supplementation of probiotic on gut fermentative metabolites and microbiota in dogs — Jan Suchodolski, Ph.D., professor, associate director and head of microbiome sciences, Texas A&M University Gastrointestinal Laboratory, shares results of a study aimed at evaluating the repeatability of the effects of yeast probiotic supplementation on gut fermentative metabolites and microbiota in dogs. The findings show inclusion of this probiotic can modulate the intestinal microbiota and its metabolites, improving microbial function. Furthermore, the response to probiotic consumption was repeatable in dogs after a three-month period. While promising, these results need to be confirmed in larger number of animals with various life stages and disease models. 
  • Safety and functional benefits of a cultured protein for use in dog food formulations — Anne Ballou, Ph.D., technical director, SIWA; Matt Longshaw, Ph.D., research and application manager, Calysta Ltd.; and Wendy Vandersteen, BSc., MSc., Ph.D., manager of research and development, Taplow Ventures Ltd., discuss biological and technical function of a cultured protein based on data from a long-term dog exposure study as well as an in-home feeding trial. From the safety assessment, no concerns were raised for growth, welfare or other biomarkers assessed during the study. Diets in both studies supported normal and diverse microbial populations, and the test diets were associated with increase of several bacteria with known beneficial traits, such as fermentation of fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids. The speakers explore these and other changes in the microbial profile associated with each diet in more detail.