Katherine Maki, Ph.D., APRN, NP-BC

Dr. Maki is a clinical researcher and principal investigator who studies how the body's microbiome connects to the brain, health, and disease. Through the BIOM Unit, Dr. Maki's integrates systems biology with translational biobehavioral science to understand how modifiable health behaviors and related exposures shape oral and gut microbial function, host signaling, and downstream clinical outcomes and chronic disease risk. Her research uses sleep and circadian disruption, alcohol exposure and recovery, and controlled dietary interventions as distinct but complementary models within an expandable framework. Complementary preclinical collaborations use in vivo and in vitro models to test candidate microbe-host mechanisms and translate findings between experimental and human studies. The long-term goal is to develop microbiome-informed approaches to patient phenotyping and risk stratification, identify actionable targets for intervention, and translate the biological effects of behavioral exposures into measures that are mechanistically interpretable and clinically useful.

Dr. Maki is the principal investigator of studies examining how heavy alcohol use and abstinence influence the oral and gut microbiome, oral environment, and associated clinical phenotypes, including Quantifying Associations of Stress and Inflammation-Associated Oral Biomarkers with Oral Health, Oral Health Behaviors, Systemic Biomarkers and Clinical Phenotype in Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (002005; NCT06684483); Longitudinal Changes in the Oral and Gut Microbiome of Individuals with Alcohol Dependence (16-CC-0162; NCT02911077); and Associations Between the Cytokine and Metabolite-Associated Gut Microbiome Bacteria, Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features and Clinical Phenotype in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder (000796).

Dr. Maki also serves as an associate investigator on several key studies including the NIAAA Natural History Protocol (14-AA-0181; NCT02231840); Effects of Ultra-processed versus Unprocessed Diets on Energy Metabolism (22DK0002; NCT05290064); Effect of Nicotinamide Riboside on Ketosis, Fat Oxidation & Metabolic Rate (001690; NCT06044935); Diet Order Effects of Low Fat vs. Low Carb Diets on Body Fat Change (001680; NCT06325722); Cardiovascular Health and Needs Assessment in Washington D.C. - Development of a Community-Based Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention (17-H-0162; NCT01927783); and Tailoring Mobile Health Technology to Reduce Obesity and Improve Cardiovascular Health in Resource-Limited Neighborhood Environments: A Multi-Level, Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention (13-H-0183; NCT01927783).

Dr. Maki received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Marquette University in May of 2009, and her Master of Science in Nursing in May of 2015 from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a focus as an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. Dr. Maki was a pre-doctoral research fellow in the Laboratory of Sleep Neurobiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago Nursing Department, and she completed her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago in December of 2019. Dr. Maki was an intramural postdoctoral research fellow in the Translational Biobehavioral and Health Promotion Branch from 2020-2022. In 2020 she was the winner of the American Heart Association Martha Hill Early Career Investigator Award, and she received the Outstanding Thesis/Dissertation Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago Graduate College, Life Sciences division. Dr. Maki was elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association in 2025.