Lawson Seminar Series: Malnutrition and the Microbiome

Join us for this exciting seminar series!

Nutrition and health researchers share leading-edge science on the microbiome with the research community at this annual seminar, hosted by the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition and Professor Elena Comelli.

On November 24, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EST Dr. Paula Littlejohn and Dr. Brett Finlay from the University of British Columbia will present on "Malnutrition and the Microbiome".

Attendance is free, but registration is limited. A Zoom link will be shared with registrants ahead of the seminar. Please RSVP by visiting: https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkd-ygqTMtEtQqho9Z6zI9f_NnTipd8GCE

Dr. Littlejohn is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow co-supervised by Dr. Michael Kobor and Dr. Bruce Vallance at the University of British Columbia & BC Children’s Research Institute. She received her Ph.D. in microbiology & immunology from UBC in the lab of Dr. Brett Finlay, where she developed the first animal model to examine the impact of postnatal exposure to multiple micronutrient deficiencies on the gut microbiome and gut resistome (collection of antibiotic resistance genes and their mechanisms). Presently her work focuses on understanding the role of maternal and postnatal nutrition in modulating epigenetic changes that have long-lasting effects. Additionally, she is focused on discovering epigenetic signatures that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children and adults using a model system and how these might be used as clinical biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and nutritional therapeutic response.

Dr. B. Brett Finlay is a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia. In 1989, he joined UBC as an Assistant Professor in the Biotechnology Laboratory. Dr. Finlay’s research interests are focused on host-microbe interactions, at the molecular level. By combining cell biology with microbiology, he has been at the forefront of the field called Cellular Microbiology, making several fundamental discoveries in this area, and publishing over 543 papers (h index=142). His laboratory studies several pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli, and more recently microbiota. He is a cofounder of Inimex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Microbiome Insights, scientific cofounder of Vedanta Pharmaceuticals and CommenSe, Director of the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative, and Founding Director and Senior Fellow of CIFAR’s Microbes and Humans. He is also the co-author of the books Let Them Eat Dirt and The Whole Body Microbiome.