City Of Edina issued the following announcement on May 25.
Asia Pacific American Heritage Month: Dr. Sita Dash
#EdinaCelebratesAPAHM
Edina’s own Dr. Sita K. Dash is widely acclaimed as the “Probiotic Prophet.”
In layman’s terms, probiotics are best described as bacteria beneficial to the digestive process. Although first discovered in 1908, public awareness of these amazing microorganism cultures has skyrocketed in the past 30 years. So have sales. Probiotics are now a billion-dollar sector in the United States alone – a more than hundred-fold increase from when Dash first began researching their untapped potential back in the 1970s.
After graduating from South Dakota State University in 1973 with Ph.Ds in Biochemistry and Nutrition, Dash accepted a position with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture. While there, he grappled with a pervasive problem: E. coli outbreaks in the state’s livestock herds.
At the time, most farmers treated these outbreaks with antibiotics. As an alternative, Dash began experimenting with a little-known probiotic supplement approved by the USDA in the 1950s. It performed spectacularly, heralded the dawning of a new age for probiotics.
Dash stayed at the forefront of this burgeoning industry. He founded industry leader UAS Laboratories in 1979. UAS's patented probiotic strains aid in the digestion of proteins and fats – and offers natural antibacterial properties. They are found today in a wide variety of dairy, meat and supplement products.
Eager to inspire and enable the next generation of scientists, Dash established the Dr. Dash Foundation more than 30 years ago. Like UAS, it continues strong to this day. The organization issues generous scholarships to students in both the United States and India, and has even "adopted" whole high schools in Odisha, India. (Dash was born in Tunpur, Odisha, and immigrated to the United States in 1969.)
No less impressive, Dash and his foundation have also founded Probiotic and Prebiotic Innovation Centers and professorships at both South Dakota State University and the Indian Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar.
#AsianPacificAmericanHeritageMonth #APAHM
Original source can be found here.
Source: City Of Edina
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