|
IMPACTT Newsletter | September 2023
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to our September 2023 IMPACTT newsletter. Keep reading for news, events, and publications in the microbiome world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMPACTT Mentorship Program
|
Applications for our fourth IMPACTT Mentorship Program cohort open Nov 1, 2023. This program is designed for senior postdocs, research associates, & early career faculty in microbiome-related fields at Canadian academic institutions. Get paired with an established researcher within your field but outside your current network and expand your career horizons. Learn more and sign up for updates here.
|
|
|
|
Introduction to R Workshop
|
The International Microbiome Centre is hosting an Introduction to R Workshop Oct 31 – Nov 1, 2023 on the Foothills Campus at the University of Calgary. This workshop is open to all and does not require any prerequisites. Registration is $300 for participants with Canadian academic affiliations. Register and see the schedule here, or email the instructors for more info: [email protected]|[email protected]
|
|
|
|
Having IMPACTT Symposium
|
Save the date! Our Having IMPACTT 4: Advancing Microbiome Research Symposium will be held June 3-5, 2024 at the Malcolm Hotel in Canmore, AB. More details coming soon. See our webpage to sign up for updates about our symposium here.
|
|
|
|
Beakerhead Festival
|
The Beakerhead Festival took place in Calgary, AB on Sep 14-17, 2023. Professors and students from the University of Calgary, including Platform 3 Co-Lead Dr. Joe Harrison, created a hands-on event at the festival called “My Microbes and Me”, designed to introduce people to their BFFs (Bacterial Friends Forever). Nearly 500 participants dropped by to see human-derived specimens from AMBR (the Alberta Microbiota Repository), view organisms living in their own mouths under a microscope, and culture microbes from their own bodies. This event was funded by IMPACTT, the International Microbiome Centre, and the Faculty of Science at UCalgary.
|
|
|
|
|
IMPACTT TEAM & NETWORK NEWS
|
|
|
|
Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta (Platform 2 Co-Lead) and Dr. Joe Harrison (Platform 3 Co-Lead) were named to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Learn more about this announcement here and see the full Royal Society of Canada Class of 2023 here. Congratulations!
|
|
|
Dr. Paul Kubes (Platform 1 Co-Lead) was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), one of the highest honours in the Canadian health sciences community. Read the announcements here and here. Congratulations!
|
|
|
Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta (Platform 2 Co-Lead, PI) and Dr. Gerald Giesbrecht (CMI2 Team Grant Lead, Co-PI) were awarded a research grant from the Azrieli Foundation. The program funding call was for New Ideas to Advance Knowledge in Neurodevelopment, and their research project will focus on the influence of early life microbiome maturation on head circumference growth and neurodevelopment in premature children. Read the announcement here. Congratulations!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Diego Silva (IMPACTT Ethics Lead) was interviewed for an article in The New Daily titled “If Australia’s COVID inquiry won’t look at how the states responded, what will it examine?” Read the full article here.
|
|
|
Dr. Carolina Tropini (CMI2 Team Grant Lead) was interviewed for a CBC Radio episode of White Coat Black Art titled “What you eat could be key to improving your mental health, scientists say." Read and listen here.
|
|
|
NEW PUBLICATIONS
|
|
|
|
|
New Publications in the Microbiome World
|
Hoskinson et al. (including Platform 2 Lead Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj and CMI2 Team Grant Leads Dr. Stuart Turvey, Dr. Meghan Azad, & Dr. Padmaja Subbarao). Nature Communications. 29 Aug 2023.
|
Highlights: The immune system and the gut microbiota both undergo maturation in early life. In this study, the researchers investigated whether changes in microbiota maturation were linked to pediatric allergic diseases. Using participants from the CHILD birth cohort, they found that impaired 1-year microbiota maturation was significantly associated with atopic dermatitis, asthma, food allergy, and allergic rhinitis. They also identified functional and metabolic imbalances that linked microbiota maturation at 1 year and allergic diagnoses at 5 years.
|
|
Rojas et al. (including Platform 2 Co-Lead Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta and CMI2 Team Grant Lead Dr. Gerald Giesbrecht). Psychoneuroendrocrinology. 09 Sep 2023.
|
|
Highlights: Prenatal stress has been associated with altered gut microbiota composition in infants, but it’s unclear whether this alteration persists into childhood. In this study, the researchers investigated whether prenatal stress indicators were associated with children’s gut microbiota composition and metabolites at 3-4 years of age. Prenatal stress was measured via anxiety and depression surveys, as well as via salivary cortisol levels. They found that symptoms of depression and anxiety during specific trimesters were associated with increased alpha diversity of the child’s gut microbiota, including changes in the relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa. Maternal cortisol levels during different trimesters also affected the child’s fecal metabolome and gut microbiota diversity/composition.
|
|
|
|
New Publications from our IMPACTT Team and Network
|
Dr. Paul Kubes (Platform 1 Co-Lead) & Dr. Kathy McCoy (IMPACTT Director & Platform 1 Lead)
|
Peiseler et al. Science. 08 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Eytan Wine (IMPACTT Co-Applicant) and Dr. Anne Griffiths & Dr. David Mack (CMI2 Team Grant Leads)
|
El-Matary et al. Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. 05 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Celia Greenwood (Platform 5 Lead)
|
Vasileva et al. Genes. 29 Aug 2023.
|
|
Dr. John Conly (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
|
Mponponsuo et al. Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada. 18 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Jens Walter (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
|
Montenegro et al. BMJ Open. Sep 2023.
|
Pötgens et al. Clinical Nutrition. 25 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Benjamin Willing (IMPACTT Co-Applicant)
|
Liu et al. Food Research International. 15 Sep 2023.
|
Bourrie et al. Food Research International. 13 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Robert Bandsma (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Ling et al. eBioMedicine. 20 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Percival et al. The Lancet. 06 Sep 2023.
|
Hasan et al. Health Science Reports. 08 Sep 2023.
|
Das et al. Methods and Protocols. 08 Sep 2023.
|
Asif et al. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. Aug 2023.
|
Putri et al. PLOS One. 14 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Adam Burgener (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Gupta et al. Clinical Immunology. 09 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Gerald Giesbrecht (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Pastershank et al. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. 22 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Jeremy Hirota (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Lobb et al. BMC Infectious Diseases. 13 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Steven Kembel (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Wang et al. New Phytologist. 30 Aug 2023.
|
|
Dr. André Marette (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Busso et al. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 04 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Thomas Murooka (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Ikeogu et al. mBio. 25 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Roger Paredes (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Mateu et al. The Lancet Regional Health Europe. 04 Sep 2023.
|
Inzaule et al. PLOS Medicine. 22 Sep 2023.
|
Carr et al. Antiviral Therapy. 25 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Vanessa Poliquin (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
Baysac et al. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. 09 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Carolina Tropini (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
McCallum & Tropini. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 22 Sep 2023.
|
|
Dr. Bruce Vallance (CMI2 Team Grant Lead)
|
|
Gilliland et al. Gastroenterology. 20 Sep 2023.
|
|
|
UPCOMING EVENTS AND REMINDERS
|
|
|
|
|
Click here to see curated lists of upcoming events in the microbiome world
|
|
|
IMPACTT Microbiome Standards
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
Be a contributor to our microbiome community!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow @IMPACTT on Mastodon and tag us to share your news!
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
