She has secured funding for her research from many federal agencies including NIH, DoE, DoD, and NSF. She is a pioneer in research on gut microbiome and autism. She is author of 9 patents and more than 130 peer-reviewed publications. She specializes on molecular microbial ecology for bioremediation, the use of microbial systems for bioenergy production, and the human intestinal microbial ecology and its relationship to obesity, bariatric surgery, metabolism, and autism.