The idea that bacteria in one's gut might somehow influence brain function or the state of one's health first gained prominence in ancient Greece, but there has never been more interest in pursuing research on the subject than there is today.
"There's nothing really very new about the concept that gut bacteria may influence health or disease. Hippocrates said over 2,000 years ago that all diseases begin in the gut," Dr. Jane Foster told attendees at the University of Alberta's 17th annual Department of Psychiatry Research Day.
The day-long event, designed to celebrate and showcase the research of the Department of Psychiatry's Residents and Graduate Students, took place May 30th at Bernard Snell Hall in University of Alberta Hospital.
"Although he may not have been suggesting that the bacteria or other microbes that live in our gut are part of that concept, it has been a long time now that researchers have considered this gut-brain connection in a whole host of different ways," she noted.
Foster, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, was the keynote speaker at the event, which attracted more than 100 participants including Department of Psychiatry Graduate Students, Residents, Faculty, colleagues and students from other departments.
Foster's presentation - titled Microbes and Mood: Microbiota-Host Interactions in Mood and Mental Health - focused on her lab's research into how immune-brain and gut-brain interactions may contribute to neurodevelopment, behaviour, and psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression.
"This seems to be a hot topic with thousands of papers coming out on it, if you look at the PubMed references over last few years on just microbiota and microflora. In January of 2018 there were 1,800 papers that came out on this topic, so this is moving faster than a lot of other fields," said Foster.
"Understanding the way that the microbiome communicates with the brain is an opportunity to improve the way we consider individual differences in patients. This area has brought together so many scientists from different disciplines that it's now at the forefront of multidisciplinary, novel approaches. I've met people who have done landmark studies in microbiology or in sequencing techniques where we're just troubleshooting how to move the field forward. It's providing an avenue for conversation and multidisciplinary work, and that's exciting."
Foster, past president of the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology, said several clinical trials involving prebiotics and probiotics are underway around the world.
"There is a lot of conversation happening between psychiatrists and industry. Many are smaller companies. There is no end of these nutraceutical or probiotic companies that are interested in addressing some mental health target. So there is a lot of opportunity here if we can actually put some precision to the science for novel approaches to treat people," she said.
Foster's research on gut-brain interactions is at the forefront of finding novel interventions in psychiatry, including the use of fecal microbiota transplants. She has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, presented her work at over 40 local, national, and international venues, and has been highly active in reaching out to the general public through TedTalks, webinars, public lectures and art exhibitions.
"What's remarkable is that the microbiome (the collection of microorganisms in our body) has 200 times the genetic material that we have. From the Human Genome Project we know that we have about 23,000 to 25,000 genes, whereas the human microbiome represents millions of genes. So we're only at the tip of the iceberg of understanding that. It's a very complex system, and there are a lot of ways that your microbiota can communicate with your brain."
In addition to Foster's keynote speech, Research Day featured a lived-experience presentation in the morning by Sharon Ryder Unger, and an afternoon presentation by Dr. Allen Chan, an Assistant Professor in the Department.
A major focus of the event was a series of short presentations from Graduate Students. They included: Mohammad Alam, Chelsea Bedrejo, James Benoit, Jasmine Brown, Eric Chan Tai Kong, Catherine Cheng, Daniela Gomez, Michal Juhas, Jessica Luki, Manoj Malik, Tyler Marshall, Brad Necyk, John Wesley Paylor, Matt Reeson, Rejish Thomas and Eszter Wendlandt.
Poster presentations from trainees and collaborators were also presented throughout the day. The top presentations by research trainees were acknowledged with the following awards:
• Dr. Roger C. Bland Graduate Award - Rejish Thomas
• Dr. Glen Baker Award, Best Overall Poster Presentation - John Wesley Paylor
• Honourable Mention for Poster Presentation - Daniela Gomez
• Department of Psychiatry Best Oral Presentation Award - Rejish Thomas
• Honourable Mention for Oral Presentation - Catherine Cheung
• Department of Psychiatry Poster Award - Shui Jiang
"The success of the Psychiatry Department's annual Research Day comes from the hard work of the students and what they put into their research.
It's an opportunity for the students to showcase their work and the evolution of their work throughout their time in the Graduate Program," says Tara Checknita, Graduate Program Administrator.
"We do have a recipe for Research Day but like research itself it changes from year to year. We like to listen to the feedback, what the interests are of the group, and we change it up every year just to see what works and what doesn't. There is a lot of hard work that goes into Research Day and it wouldn't be successful without the active participation of the Graduate Student Reps, the Graduate Student Program Committee, and Dr. Esther Fujiwara, our Graduate Program Director. They pull it all together."
"There's nothing really very new about the concept that gut bacteria may influence health or disease. Hippocrates said over 2,000 years ago that all diseases begin in the gut," Dr. Jane Foster told attendees at the University of Alberta's 17th annual Department of Psychiatry Research Day.
The day-long event, designed to celebrate and showcase the research of the Department of Psychiatry's Residents and Graduate Students, took place May 30th at Bernard Snell Hall in University of Alberta Hospital.
"Although he may not have been suggesting that the bacteria or other microbes that live in our gut are part of that concept, it has been a long time now that researchers have considered this gut-brain connection in a whole host of different ways," she noted.
Foster, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, was the keynote speaker at the event, which attracted more than 100 participants including Department of Psychiatry Graduate Students, Residents, Faculty, colleagues and students from other departments.
Foster's presentation - titled Microbes and Mood: Microbiota-Host Interactions in Mood and Mental Health - focused on her lab's research into how immune-brain and gut-brain interactions may contribute to neurodevelopment, behaviour, and psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression.
"This seems to be a hot topic with thousands of papers coming out on it, if you look at the PubMed references over last few years on just microbiota and microflora. In January of 2018 there were 1,800 papers that came out on this topic, so this is moving faster than a lot of other fields," said Foster.
"Understanding the way that the microbiome communicates with the brain is an opportunity to improve the way we consider individual differences in patients. This area has brought together so many scientists from different disciplines that it's now at the forefront of multidisciplinary, novel approaches. I've met people who have done landmark studies in microbiology or in sequencing techniques where we're just troubleshooting how to move the field forward. It's providing an avenue for conversation and multidisciplinary work, and that's exciting."
Foster, past president of the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology, said several clinical trials involving prebiotics and probiotics are underway around the world.
"There is a lot of conversation happening between psychiatrists and industry. Many are smaller companies. There is no end of these nutraceutical or probiotic companies that are interested in addressing some mental health target. So there is a lot of opportunity here if we can actually put some precision to the science for novel approaches to treat people," she said.
Foster's research on gut-brain interactions is at the forefront of finding novel interventions in psychiatry, including the use of fecal microbiota transplants. She has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, presented her work at over 40 local, national, and international venues, and has been highly active in reaching out to the general public through TedTalks, webinars, public lectures and art exhibitions.
"What's remarkable is that the microbiome (the collection of microorganisms in our body) has 200 times the genetic material that we have. From the Human Genome Project we know that we have about 23,000 to 25,000 genes, whereas the human microbiome represents millions of genes. So we're only at the tip of the iceberg of understanding that. It's a very complex system, and there are a lot of ways that your microbiota can communicate with your brain."
In addition to Foster's keynote speech, Research Day featured a lived-experience presentation in the morning by Sharon Ryder Unger, and an afternoon presentation by Dr. Allen Chan, an Assistant Professor in the Department.
A major focus of the event was a series of short presentations from Graduate Students. They included: Mohammad Alam, Chelsea Bedrejo, James Benoit, Jasmine Brown, Eric Chan Tai Kong, Catherine Cheng, Daniela Gomez, Michal Juhas, Jessica Luki, Manoj Malik, Tyler Marshall, Brad Necyk, John Wesley Paylor, Matt Reeson, Rejish Thomas and Eszter Wendlandt.
Poster presentations from trainees and collaborators were also presented throughout the day. The top presentations by research trainees were acknowledged with the following awards:
• Dr. Roger C. Bland Graduate Award - Rejish Thomas
• Dr. Glen Baker Award, Best Overall Poster Presentation - John Wesley Paylor
• Honourable Mention for Poster Presentation - Daniela Gomez
• Department of Psychiatry Best Oral Presentation Award - Rejish Thomas
• Honourable Mention for Oral Presentation - Catherine Cheung
• Department of Psychiatry Poster Award - Shui Jiang
"The success of the Psychiatry Department's annual Research Day comes from the hard work of the students and what they put into their research.
It's an opportunity for the students to showcase their work and the evolution of their work throughout their time in the Graduate Program," says Tara Checknita, Graduate Program Administrator.
"We do have a recipe for Research Day but like research itself it changes from year to year. We like to listen to the feedback, what the interests are of the group, and we change it up every year just to see what works and what doesn't. There is a lot of hard work that goes into Research Day and it wouldn't be successful without the active participation of the Graduate Student Reps, the Graduate Student Program Committee, and Dr. Esther Fujiwara, our Graduate Program Director. They pull it all together."