Sarah S. Comstock, PhD

Biography:

Sarah Comstock Photo

Position:

Instructor

Email:

Email Sarah Comstock

 

 

 

 

Public Health Focus/Interests:

A cycle of health can link each generation to the next. And yet, some among us are caught in a cycle of poor health. Instructor Comstock is focused on developing nutritional and syn/pre/pro/post-biotics to break the cycle of poor health.  Her experiences to-date have fueled her interest in the mechanisms by which bacteria (i.e., the microbiota or microbiome) can affect overall health and how environmental exposures such as diet or chemicals can impact the microbiota.

 

Education:

Post Doc, 2015
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Jenifer Fenton, PhD, MPH

Post Doc, 2012
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Urbana, IL

Sharon Donovan, PhD, RD

Doctor of Philosophy, Nutritional Biology, 2008
University of California, Davis, CA

Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry, 2000
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

 

Public Health Courses Taught:

PH 876 Nutrition and Chronic Diseases: Living Longer and Healthier

PH 882 Public Health Nutrition: Assessment and Development of Population-Based Interventions

 

Professional Experience/Expertise:

Nutrition

Immunology

Microbiome

Antimicrobial Resistance

Maternal/Infant Health

Human Milk

Perinatal Outcomes

 

Current Research:

  • A Pre-, Peri-, and Post-natal Approach to Understanding the Risk and Mechanisms for Obesity (R01DK135054, mPI: Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow, Henry Ford Health System)
  • Diversity of Human Milk Oligosaccharide Metabolizing Genes in Two Infant Cohorts (R15AI160139, PI: Vanja Klepac-Ceraj, Wellesley College)
  • Prenatal Maternal Stress, Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, and Cognitive Development: Potential Roles for Inflammation and the Developing Gut Microbiome (R01HD107019, PI: Rebecca Knickmeyer, Michigan State University)
  • Food as Medicine for High-Risk Pregnant and Post-Partum Women (Michigan Health Endowment Foundation; PI: Jean Kerver, Michigan State University)
  • Prenatal Exposures and Child Health Outcomes: A Statewide Study (UH3OD023285; mPIs: Jean Kerver and Nigel Paneth, Michigan State University)
  • ECHO-wide platform for studying mother-to-infant vertical transmission of microbiota. (U2COD023375, PI: Noel Mueller, Johns Hopkins University)
  • Microbial Mediators of the Impact of Maternal Psychosocial Stress on Perinatal and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes. (3UH3OD023285-05S2, PI)

 

Awards:

2024: The Peter Hartmann Mid-Career Award for Impact on Research and Mentorship
International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML)

2024: George Liepa Sigma Xi Lecture
Human Milk: Shaping Microbial Communities, Supporting Positive Child Health Outcomes.
Western Michigan University

2021: Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor of the Year
Michigan State University

 

Recent Publications, Presentations:

All of Dr. Comstock's publications can be found on PubMed.

 

Schwartz LT, Ladouceur JG, Russell MM, Xie SYL, Bu S, Kerver JM, Comstock SS. The Relationship Between Fiber Intake and Gut Bacterial Diversity and Composition During the Third Trimester of Pregnancy. Nutrients. 2025 Feb 22;17(5):773. doi: 10.3390/nu17050773. PMID: 40077643 

Liu T, Kress AM, Debelius J, Zhao N, Smirnova E, Bandyopadhyay S, Bonham K, Comstock SS, Gill S, Gern JE, Koinis-Mitchell D, Klepac-Ceraj V, Lee-Sarwar K, Litonjua AA, McKee K, McCauley K, O'Connor TG, Rosas-Salazar C, Scheible K, Stanford JB, Moore B, Jacobson LP, Mueller NT; program collaborators for Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes. Maternal vaginal and fecal microbiota in later pregnancy contribute to child fecal microbiota development in the ECHO cohort.  iScience. 2025 Mar 12;28(4):112211. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112211. eCollection 2025 Apr 18. PMID: 40241748

Morgan S, Raza Shah SH, Comstock SS, Goodrich JM, Liang D, Tan Y, McKee K, Ruden D, Sitarik AR, Cassidy-Bushrow AE, Dunlop AL, Petriello MC; program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes. Prenatal PFAS exposure and outcomes related to maternal gut microbiome composition in later pregnancy. Environ Res. 2025 Aug 15;279(Pt 1):121709. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.121709. Epub 2025 Apr 29. PMID: 40311903

Bu S, Nel NH, Beavers AW, Sugino KY, Alaimo K, Biernbaum JA, Comstock SS. Influence of Two Root Media and Three Vermicompost Amendments on Bacterial Communities in a Greenhouse Container Garden Model System. Microorganisms. 2025 Aug 13;13(8):1885. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13081885. PMID: 40871389

Malik AC, Comstock SS. Combating Prenatal Depression with Diet: A Literature Review on the Association Between Mediterranean or Mediterranean-like Diet Adherence and the Incidence of Depression in Pregnant Women. Nutrients. 2025 Apr 6;17(7):1276. doi: 10.3390/nu17071276. PMID: 40219033

Shipp GM, Wosu AC, Knapp EA,Sauder KA, Dabelea D, Perng W, Zhu Y, Ferrara A, Dunlop AL, Deoni S, Gern J, Porucznik C, Aris IM, Karagas MR, Sathyanarayana S, O’Connor TG, Kecia CN, Wright RJ, Hockett CW, Johnson CW, Hertz-Picciotto I, Meeker JD, Cordero J, Paneth N, Comstock SS, and Kerver JM, on behalf of program collaborators for Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes. Maternal Pre-Pregnancy BMI, Breastfeeding, and Child BMI. Pediatrics. 2024 Jan 1;153(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-061466. PMID: 38111349.

Hedderson MM, Schuh HB, Knapp EA, Bekelman TA, Catellier DJ, Westlake M, Lyall K, Schmidt RJ, Dunlop AL, Comstock SS, Chatzi L, Sauder KA, Dabelea D, Switkowski KM, Lin PD, Avalos LA, Zhu Y, Ferrara A; ECHO Cohort Consortium. Prenatal Diet and Infant Growth From Birth to Age 24 Months. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Nov 4;7(11):e2445771. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.45771.

PMID: 39570591 

Pratapwar MP, Sheth HJ, Ravi AK, Block ML, Korber KA, Kepsel A, Leimanis-Laurens M, Comstock SS. Use of Biomarkers in Nutrition Intervention Studies of Children: A Scoping Review. Nutrients 2024 Oct 22;16(21). doi: 10.3390/nu16213584. PubMed PMID: 39519417; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11547836.

Kinney G, Haddad EN, Sugino KY, Garrow LS, Ng PKW, Comstock SS. Impacts of Whole-Grain Soft Red, Whole-Grain Soft White, and Refined Soft White Wheat Flour Crackers on Gastrointestinal Inflammation and the Gut Microbiota of Adult Humans. Biology (Basel). 2024 Aug 30;13(9):677. doi: 10.3390/biology13090677.PMID: 39336104

Nel NH, Haddad EN, Kerver JM, Cassidy-Bushrow AE, Comstock SS. Maternal Body Mass Index Associates with Prenatal Characteristics and Fecal Microbial Communities. Nutrients. 2024 Jun 14;16(12). doi: 10.3390/nu16121881. PubMed PMID: 38931236; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11206496

McKee K, Bassis CM, Golob J, Palazzolo B, Sen A, Comstock SS, Rosas-Salazar C, Stanford JB, O’Connor T, Gern J, Paneth N, Dunlop AL, on behalf of the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. Host factors are associated with vaginal microbiome structure in pregnancy in the ECHO Cohort Consortium. Sci Rep. May 23;14(1):11798. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62537-7. PMID: 38782975.

Bu S, Beavers AW, Sugino KY, Keller SF, Alaimo K, Comstock SS. Influence of compost amendments on soil and human gastrointestinal bacterial communities during a single gardening season. Microorganisms. 2024 May 1;12(5). doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12050928. PMID: 38792758

Ma T, Bu S, Nzerem AC, Paneth N, Kerver JM, Cavalieri CN, Comstock SS. Association of the Infant Gut Microbiome with Temperament at Nine Months of Age: A Michigan Cohort Study. Microorganisms. 2024 Jan 20;12(1):214. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12010214. PMID: 3827619

 

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