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IMPACTT Newsletter | January 2022
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Welcome to our January 2022 newsletter. We have a lot of exciting announcements and upcoming events you won't want to miss out on, so let's dive in!
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IMPACTT TEAM & NETWORK NEWS
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Having IMPACTT 2: Advancing Microbiome Research Symposium
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Early-bird registration and abstract submissions are now open for our 2022 microbiome research symposium! Join us for this exciting 2-day in-person symposium highlighting the latest microbiome research from across Canada and around the world. The symposium will be held June 2-3, 2022 at the Malcolm Hotel, in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Click here for more details, speaker lineup, registration, and abstract submission!
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IMPACTT Ethics Webinars
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IMPACTT is hosting webinar series on research ethics related to conducting microbiome research. The first webinar, Basics of Ethics in Microbiome Research, is available as an on-demand video. Our next webinar on Translational Research Ethics will be held Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 2:00 PM MST. Our main speaker will be Dr. Daniel Strech, a Professor at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin who works on bioethics, research governance, and health policy. Registration opens early next week, so stay tuned by following us on twitter or visiting the ethics page on our website!
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IMPACTT Gnotobiotic Workshop
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IMPACTT is organizing a two-day hands-on gnotobiotic workshop May 30-31, 2022 at the University of Calgary. Over the course of this workshop you will learn to set up, sterilize, and maintain a germ-free isolator, as well as plan gnotobiotic experiments. Registration opens soon, so visit our website for more details and add yourself to the list. Space is extremely limited so you don't want to miss out!
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Azrieli Accelerator Funds Gut-Brain Axis Research
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Last month, the University of Calgary announced the launch of its Azrieli Accelerator, a $25-million gift from the Azrieli Foundation that will drive research that will change the lives of children, teens, and adults. As part of the accelerator, IMPACTT Director and Platform 1 Lead Dr. Kathy McCoy will be exploring how the microbiome affects brain development.
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NEW PUBLICATIONS
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New Publications in the Microbiome World
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Zhang et al. Nature Communications. 10 Jan 2022.
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Highlights: In this study, the researchers show that intestinal commensal microbes can mediate the metabolic activation of triclosan (TCS) in the gut. TCS is an antimicrobial agent that has been implicated in increasing severity of colitis and colitis-associated colorectal tumorgenesis in animal models. They found that targeted inhibition of bacterial β-glucuronidase (GUS) enzymes inhibits the colitis-promoting effects of TCS.
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Feuerstadt et al. The New England Journal of Medicine. 20 Jan 2022.
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Highlights: C. difficile infection can lead to kidney failure or even death, and approximately 1 in 4 people treated for C. difficile will have recurring infections. In this study, researchers conducted a phase 3, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which 182 patients with recurring C. difficile infection received either a placebo or SER-109, an investigational microbiome therapeutic composed of purified Firmicutes spores. They found that the patients who received SER-109 had a reduced risk of recurrent infection (12%) as compared to those who received the placebo (40%).
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Chanderraj et al., BMC Microbiome. 6 Jan 2022
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Highlights: Bacterial density is rarely reported in gut microbiome studies, despite being a key feature of community analysis in ecological studies. In this study, researchers compared bacterial density in rectal swabs from 118 hospitalized patients, and found that microbiome studies using rectal swabs are vulnerable to sequencing contamination, but also that gut bacterial density is associated with clinical exposures (antibiotics, co-morbidities) and independently predicts infection risk. They conclude that bacterial density is an important and under-studied feature of gut microbiome community analysis.
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New Publications from our IMPACTT Team
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Dr. Kathy McCoy (IMPACTT Director and Platform 1 Lead) and Ian Lewis (Platform 4 Co-Lead)
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Raman et al. BMJ Open Gastroenterology. 19 Jan 2022
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Dr. Diego Silva (Ethics Lead)
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Pahlman et al. BMJ Global Health. 7 Jan 2022
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Dr. Jonathan Schertzer (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
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Duggan et al. Molecular Metabolism. Jan 2022.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS
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Click here to see a list of upcoming events in the microbiome world.
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CALL FOR PAPERS
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Be a contributor to our microbiome community!
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