Research Trainee Spotlight: Jonatan Ottino Gonzalez, PhD
Jonatan Ottino Gonzalez, PhD, has always been fascinated by what drives human behavior. “When I learned that we could observe and measure cognitive processes and brain structures involved in behavior, I was captivated,” he explains. “I knew I had to pursue this path.”
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Gonzalez later moved to Spain and studied Psychology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. After graduating, he earned a Master’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Barcelona, where he later completed his PhD. “My PhD thesis focused on allostatic load, obesity, and their relationship with brain structure and cognition,” he says.
Dr. Gonzalez began his first postdoctoral position at the University of Vermont before joining the Goran Laboratory at CHLA, led by Michael I Goran, PhD, in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. As a postdoctoral fellow who has been awarded the Research Career Developmental Fellowship, Dr. Gonzalez studies the influence of prenatal and early postnatal factors on neurocognitive outcomes and obesity risk in children. “My goal is to better understand the mechanisms underlying maladaptive behaviors, including but not limited to altered eating patterns, and to explore whether these originate from early disruptions in neurodevelopment,” he says.
Dr. Gonzalez’s current project investigates which components of breast milk contribute to impacts on child neurocognitive development. “In a recent study, we found that certain combinations of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), natural sugars present in breast milk, were strong predictors of increased cognitive performance in children at age 2,” Dr. Gonzalez says. “Our next steps involve examining how HMOs and other breast milk components influence brain development.”
Outside of work, Dr. Gonzalez enjoys playing and listening to live music, taking walks outside, and making bread and pasta.
