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.
Each seminar includes two presentations, the first delivered by a trainee (graduate student, medical student or postdoctoral fellow) and the second by an established leader in the field.
The 2022 Presenters are:
Paula Littlejohn, MHS, PhD
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.
B. Brett Finlay, OC, OBC, FRSC, FCAHS
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. He obtained a B.Sc. (Honors) in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, where he also did his Ph.D. (1986) in Biochemistry under Dr. William Paranchych, studying F-like plasmid conjugation. His post-doctoral studies were performed with Dr. Stanley Falkow at the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he studied Salmonella invasion into host cells. 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.
For more information about the speakers, visit the event page.
Attendance is free but space is limited. Register by visiting the registration page.
