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Dallas Lab
Dallas Lab
Unraveling the biology of human and animal milk
We specialize in the following areas
Bioactive milk peptides
Identifying novel bioactive protein fragments—peptides—in human and bovine milk
Identifying which milk peptides are present across the digestive tract (infants and adults)
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Bioactive milk proteins
Determining which milk proteins survive intact across digestion, enabling them to exert function throughout the gut
Improving protein preservation across milk processing
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Improving preterm infant health
Assessing digestive deficiencies in preterm infants
Improving processing of human milk to enhance bioactivity
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Improving adult health
Assessing the survival of functional bovine milk proteins and peptides across adult digestion
Assessing the effect of bovine milk proteins and peptides on health (e.g., immune system, microbiome)
Improving processing of bovine milk components to enhance bioactivity
Our approach
Clinical studies
- Collecting digestive fluids from infants and adults
- Feeding studies
Digestion models
- Static and dynamic simulated infant and adult digestion
Structural analysis
- Peptidomics
- proteomics
- Glycopeptidomics
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays
Functional assays
- Immunomodulatory assays (e.g., macrophage cell culture)
- Intestinal cell culture
- Antimicrobial assays
Updates and Good news
MS-PD student Ashley McKelvey studies preterm infant digestion and bioactive peptides in human milk at Oregon State… Read more
Md Atikur Rahman received a Novice Research Award from the Gerber Foundation to support his project, Identifying Novel… Read more
Discover how Dave Dallas studies milk’s bioactive components to optimize infant health, improve donor milk processing,… Read more
Recent publications
2025
(2025) Effect of High-Pressure Processing Operating Parameters on Microbial Inactivation and Bioactive Protein Preservation in Bovine Milk: A Systematic Review Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 25
(2025) Detection of bovine milk–, but likely not soy–derived, peptides in human milk after maternal consumption of bovine milk and soy beverage: a randomized, cross-over, dietary intervention trial Frontiers in Nutrition 12
(2025) Optimization of single- and dual-cycle high pressure processing (HPP) to process bovine milk for microbial safety and protein quality Journal of Dairy Science
(2025) Ultraviolet-C Treatment Better Preserves the Proteomic Profile of Donor Human Milk than Holder Pasteurization Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 73(39)