Bio

Annika is a postdoctoral scholar in the Spencer Lab studying how gut microbes metabolize prebiotic fibers to produce bioactive metabolites linked to lowering disease risk. She holds an MS in Human Nutrition from the University of Sheffield and a PhD in Food Science and Human Nutrition from Colorado State University. Her work integrates multi-omic approaches to map diet-microbe-metabolite relationships. Annika aims to translate these mechanistic insights into microbiome-informed dietary strategies for reducing chronic diseases.

Institute Affiliations

Stanford Advisors

Contact

  • Academic
    amweber@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: School of Medicine Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

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All Publications

  • Inclusion of stabilised rice bran in ready-to-use therapeutic food supports growth in Indonesian children with severe and moderate acute malnutrition: solutions to enhance health with alternative treatments (SEHAT), a double-blinded, randomised clinical trial JOURNAL OF NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE Barbazza, S., Weber, A. M., Fauzi, M. D., Rachmadewi, A., Zuhrina, R., Putri, F., Campos Ponce, M., Van Der Hoeven, M., Fortin, S., Rimbawan, R., Nasution, Z., Giriwono, P., Wieringa, F. T., Soekarjo, D. D., Ryan, E. P. 2026; 15: e13

    Abstract

    Ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) are widely used to treat severe acute malnutrition (SAM) by improving key anthropometric outcomes; however, optimisation of RUTF formulations remains important to support sustained recovery. Rice bran, a novel nutrient-dense, prebiotic food ingredient, can support healthy growth. This two-arm, double-blinded, randomised controlled trial, compared the effectiveness of a locally produced RUTF with rice bran to the same RUTF without rice bran for the treatment of uncomplicated acute malnutrition in Jember, Indonesia. 200 children aged 6-59 months with SAM (WHZ < -3.0 and/or mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) < 115 mm or having bilateral pitting oedema +/++) or approaching SAM (WHZ < -2.5) were enrolled in the study. Primary outcomes were weight, MUAC, and anthropometric z-scores. Linear mixed models were applied across all ages, and split by age groups (6-23 months and 24-59 months) at weeks 0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 for intention-to-treat (ITT) and per protocol analysis (PP). Children in two age groups were expected to respond differently to treatment based on their microbiome maturity. At week 4, the PP analysis revealed RUTF+rice bran treatment had significantly greater weight gain velocity (p = 0.02; p = 0.008) and MUAC velocity (p = 0.004, p = 0.03) when compared to RUTF at all ages and in the 24-59 months age group, respectively. There were no significant differences between treatment groups at time points in the other anthropometric outcomes. This investigation shows promising impact of stabilised rice bran as a prebiotic and nutrient-dense ingredient for inclusion into RUTFs that can improve child growth outcomes.

    View details for DOI 10.1017/jns.2025.10074

    View details for Web of Science ID 001673800200001

    View details for PubMedID 41737350

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12926669

  • Rice Bran Supplements the Nutritional Density of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods: A Targeted Nutrient and Non-Targeted Metabolomic Analysis FOOD SCIENCE & NUTRITION Weber, A. M., Bovaird, E. S., Toulabi, S. B., Barbazza, S., Fauzi, M., Putri, F. K., Fadly, K., Tamimi, K., Calvimontes, D. M., Rimbawan, R., Nasution, Z., Giriwono, P., Wieringa, F. T., Ryan, E. P. 2026; 14 (1): e71448

    Abstract

    The treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition includes ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). Novel RUTF recipes aim for inclusion of locally sourced nutrient-dense food ingredients for sustainability in product availability. This study investigated the incorporation of rice bran into RUTF formulations to enhance the bioactive nutrient profile. Experimental RUTFs were developed containing 0%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% rice bran, without a vitamin/mineral premix for targeted nutrient and non-targeted metabolite analysis. Additionally, an investigation was conducted analyzing the nutrient density and food safety of small-scale mill-sourced rice bran varieties collected from Guatemala and Cambodia for comparison to a US-commercial rice bran. Targeted nutrient composition analysis of the RUTFs revealed dietary fiber, vitamin E, and vitamin B1 generally increased with higher rice bran content, though it was not dose dependent. The non-targeted metabolite analysis identified 883 biochemicals across the four experimental RUTFs. Significant metabolite fold changes were identified for a variety of lipids, amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and xenobiotics in 5%, 7.5%, and 10% rice bran-RUTFs compared to the 0%. Analysis of small-scale mill-sourced rice brans from Guatemala and Cambodia showed variation in vitamin composition, with vitamin B3 averaging 37.1 mg/100 g and vitamin E ranging from 3.2 to 6.0 mg/100 g. These varieties also demonstrated variable microbial levels and trace metal contents, warranting continuous monitoring and evaluation in global supply chains. These findings support the feasibility of incorporating rice bran into RUTFs for malnutrition treatment and the benefit of screening locally sourced rice bran to address regional nutrient-dense food product development and specifically for malnutrition treatment.

    View details for DOI 10.1002/fsn3.71448

    View details for Web of Science ID 001703671500001

    View details for PubMedID 41583016

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12824455

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7234-879X