Author Archives: Fiona Whelan

Journal Club this week: switching things up.

Posted on May 29, 2012

This week I’m going to lead a discussion on the relationship between autism and the gut microbiota.  Instead of examining one paper in detail, I’d like to give a general review of the research going on in the field.  As … Continue reading →

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Journal club: microbiome meets human immunology.

Posted on May 7, 2012

In this week’s journal club Mike Dorrington (PhD student in the Bowdish laboratory and resident immunology expert) will examine the important interactions between the microbiome and our immune systems by examining this study on the interactions between human dendritic cells … Continue reading →

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Biofilm formation in the mouth leads to inflammatory disease.

Posted on April 25, 2012

Nothing like a chat about biofilms in the mouth to round up your Thursday afternoon!  Tomorrow Akshita, a MSc candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Mike Surette, will give us an analysis of this paper detailing how anaerobic bacteria can form biofilms … Continue reading →

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Microbiome & Clinical Diagnostics: What Will the Next 10 Years Reveal?

Posted on April 15, 2012

On the heels of the International Human Microbiome Congress that took place in Paris this past month, there has been much talk about the human microbiome and the effect that studying it will have on our abilities to diagnose and … Continue reading →

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Journal club this week: the microbiome & immunity

Posted on March 13, 2012

This week Alicja Puchta of the Bowdish laboratory is going to give us an exciting taste of how the microbiome is able to affect immunological cues in the human body.  Come on out to learn how bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri is able to … Continue reading →

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Metabolomics & fecal extracts

Posted on February 27, 2012

This Thursday, Matt Workentine will guide us through a look at some recent research concerning the metabolomics of fecal samples.  The publication can be found here.  Hope to see you all Thursday at 3:30pm in HSC-3N44A!

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Sequencing genomes from metagenomic samples

Posted on February 8, 2012

Next week we’re going to switch gears a bit to examine a brand new publication concerning the ability to sequence genomes of low-abundant organisms from large metagenomic samples.  We’ll give a general overview of the methods used, examine the results, … Continue reading →

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HGT between pathogenic and commensal gut bacteria

Posted on January 27, 2012

Happy New Year! We’re getting the HMBJC up and running again this year with a presentation by Graduate student Julie Kaiser on horizontal gene transfer between pathogenic and commensal bacteria in the gut microbiome.  Come on out to HSC 3N50 … Continue reading →

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A different way of thinking about the gut microbiota

Posted on January 10, 2012

The more we study the human microbiome, the more it appears to be a moving target.  Recently, a story in Scientific American suggests that that target may be even more elusive then we think.  It speaks of a scientist named … Continue reading →

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Chat for this week: What makes your gut microbiome differ from your dog’s?

Posted on November 10, 2011

This week, Fiona Whelan, an MSc candidate hailing from the Bowdish laboratory, will be examining the differences in the gut microbiomes of a variety of mammalian species by taking a look at this paper. The journal club will be held … Continue reading →

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