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IMPACTT Newsletter | February 2024
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Welcome to our February 2024 IMPACTT newsletter. Keep reading for news, events, and publications in the microbiome world.
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IMPACTT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Having IMPACTT 4 Symposium
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Early-bird registration & abstract submissions are open until April 3, 2024 for our Having IMPACTT 4 Symposium, happening June 3-5, 2024 at the Malcolm Hotel in Canmore, AB, Canada. Get your submissions in now, and don’t wait to register – we sold out last year right around the early bird deadline! Learn more, submit your abstract, and register here.
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Gnotobiotic Workshop
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We are more than half-full for our next IMPACTT/IMC Gnotobiotic Workshop, happening May 8-10, 2024 at the University of Calgary! Applications are open until March 31, 2024, or until spots fill up. Registration is heavily subsidized for participants from academic institutions, and for those coming from Canadian institutions, we have a number of travel awards to give out! Learn more and apply here.
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IMPACTT Mentorship Program
We are excited to announce our 2024-2025 IMPACTT Mentorship Program cohort! Congratulations to our new mentees, and thank you to everyone who applied. Thank you as well to our new and returning mentors. Stay tuned for more details about our new mentorship cohort, coming soon.
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IMPACTT TEAM & NETWORK NEWS
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Dr. Maryam Kebbe (IMPACTT Mentee) was an invited keynote speaker at the Girls STEM Up 2024 conference on Feb 24, 2024 in Fredericton, NB, where she spoke about “Specializing in maternal and infant health as a woman in academia”. She was also a co-applicant on a successful CIHR Project Grant titled “Decoding the dynamic interplay of gestational physical activity, microbiome, and metabolome in maternal fetal wellbeing” (PI: Dr. Kristi Adamo, 2024-2029). Finally, Dr. Kebbe also received a successful Mitacs Globalink Research Internship Match for a project on the “Nutritional profile of commercial complementary foods for infants in Canada” (PI: Dr. Maryam Kebbe, May-August 2024). Congratulations!
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Dr. Aline Ignacio (IMPACTT Mentee) was awarded a REDI (Research Excellence, Diversity, and Independence) Early Career Transition Award from CIHR. This award is available to postdoctoral researchers, clinicians, and research associates from specific underrepresented groups to help them launch their faculty careers in Canada. Read more about the award here, and see all of the 2024 recipients here. Congratulations!
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IN THE MEDIA
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Dr. Jayne Danska’s (IMPACTT Sex & Gender Lead) October 2023 publication on immune-targeted therapies for type 1 diabetes prevention, published in Science Translational Medicine, was highlighted in this month’s newsletter from CIHR’s Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. Read the whole newsletter, including the study highlight, here.
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NEW PUBLICATIONS
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New Publications in the Microbiome World
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Mercer et al. (including Platform 2 Co-Lead Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta and CMI2 Team Grant Leads Dr. Meghan Azad, Dr. Padmaja Subbarao, & Dr. Stuart Turvey). Microbiome. 07 Feb 2024.
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Highlights: The infant gut microbiome shifts and matures in early life, reaching stability at around 3 years of age. Most research in this area has focused on the bacterial community, but there is also a vast community of fungi that resides in the gut that has received less attention. In this study, the researchers followed changes in both bacterial and fungal gut communities in 100 infants at 3 and 12 months of age. They found divergent maturation patterns in bacterial and fungal communities. For the bacterial microbiome, but not the fungal microbiome, formula feeding and C-section delivery were associated with atypical maturation patterns. For the fungal microbiome, maturation patterns were influenced by prenatal exposure to artificially sweetened beverages. These findings highlight the importance of inter-kingdom interactions in community succession during early life.
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Popovic et al. (including CMI2 Team Grant Leads Dr. John Parkinson & Dr. Arthur Mortha). The ISME Journal. 05 Feb 2024.
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Highlights: Recent studies point to an interplay between commensal protists, gut bacterial communities, and host immunity. For example, the protist Tritrichomonas musculus (Tmu) establishes chronic asymptomatic infections in the murine gut, resulting in higher baseline intestinal immune activation and structural remodelling of the intestinal epithelium. In this study, the researchers tracked Tmu activities during the first 28 days of gut colonization in healthy wild-type and B cell-deficient mice, and looked at its interactions with resident gut bacteria using 16S rRNA sequence surveys and microbial transcriptomics. They found that Tmu remodelled resident bacterial microbiome composition and function, alongside shifts in protist metabolism and virulence factor expression. These changes were even more pronounced in the B cell-deficient mice. Analysis of transcriptomics data pointed to a cross-kingdom competition for key dietary nutrients in the gut between protist and bacteria.
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New Publications from our IMPACTT Team and Network
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Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj (Platform 2 Lead), Dr. Padmaja Subbarao, & Dr. Stuart Turvey (CMI2 Team Grant Leads)
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Bridgman et al. International Journal of Obesity. 01 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Meghan Azad, Dr. Padmaja Subbarao, & Dr. Stuart Turvey (CMI2 Team Grant Leads)
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Becker et al. Scientific Reports. 05 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Anne Griffiths & Dr. David Mack (CMI2 Team Grant Leads)
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Kuenzig et al. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 16 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Karen Madsen (Platform 3 Lead)
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Deehan et al. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 07 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Ian Lewis (Platform 4 Co-Lead)
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Mandwal et al. Analytical Chemistry. 15 Feb 2024.
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Dr. John Conly (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
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Constantinescu et al. Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. 23 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Janet Hill (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
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Perdrizet et al. Veterinary Pathology. 17 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Thomas Louie (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
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Okhuysen et al. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 02 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Eytan Wine (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
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Fard & Wine. Journal of Crohn’s & Colitis. 16 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Robert Bandsma (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Afroze et al. Scientific Reports. 13 Feb 2024.
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Vresk et al. Nutrition Reviews. 13 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Kopec et al. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 15 Feb 2024.
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Barros et al. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 16 Feb 2024.
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Ariff et al. JAMA Network Open. 19 Feb 2024.
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Khan et al. Pathogens. 20 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Tony Lam (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Yau et al. Nature Reviews Endocrinology. 13 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Wendy Lou (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Schwenger et al. Liver International. 14 Feb 2024.
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Dr. André Marette (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Morissette et al. Scientific Reports. 06 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Arthur Mortha (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Chen & Mortha. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 08 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Roger Paredes (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Siempos et al. eClinical Medicine. 08 Feb 2024.
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Dr. Stuart Turvey (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Holani et al. Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 16 Feb 2024.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS
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Click here to see curated lists of upcoming events in the microbiome world
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IMPACTT Microbiome Standards
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Our four Microbiome Standards are ready to ship across Canada and internationally, and they’re FREE for Canadian labs. (Not in Canada? Just pay shipping.) Click here to learn more and sign up to receive your standards.
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Be a contributor to our microbiome community!
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Follow @IMPACTT on Mastodon and tag us to share your news!
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