Avery Hurst

2023 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grantee

Hometown

Douglas, GA

Major

Biochemistry

College

College of Agriculture

 

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides post-baccalaureate funding for 8-12 months for individuals to study, research, or teach abroad while promoting cultural exchange and mutual understanding.

Through the Fulbright U. S. Student Program, Avery Hurst takes the next giant leap toward the goal of pursuing a Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry. Investigating how to decrease inflammation and suppress disease, Avery will focus on algae in her research on marine-based nutritional supplementation of the gut microbiome at the University of Crete. She notes that Greece is the perfect place to conduct this research, because the culture is open to the holistic approach of using therapeutic properties of food to suppress disease.

Avery relates her interest in food and nutrition both to the challenges, including a rare gallbladder condition she had as a teenager, and to the joys in her life story. Growing up in a family with a tradition of cooking together, Avery has carried this practice with her through her time as a student at Purdue and anticipates taking a cooking class and bonding with her peers by sharing cultural practices while she is in Greece.