Research
Two lines of inquiry run through the lab: how gut microbial communities and their signals shape glial cells under environmental stress, using teleost fish as the animal model; and how an overlooked domain shared with bacteria may drive brain cancer progression.
How gut signals reshape glial cells
We investigate how molecules produced by the gut microbiome reach the brain and influence how astrocytes and other glial cells develop, respond, and maintain neural homeostasis — and what happens to that signalling under thermal stress.
Gut microbial communities under stress
Using shotgun metagenomics and gene expression profiling, we track how gut microbial communities shift under thermal stress, and what those shifts predict about host physiology.
An ancient bacterial domain in a protein contribute to the prgressive brain cancer
An evolutionarily conserved domain of unknown function — shared with bacteria — sits within a human brain protein involved in glutamate and calcium signaling. This same domain is also present in astrocytoma, a glial-derived brain cancer, where its contribution to tumor progression has been largely overlooked. We are characterizing these four domains as a potential, currently untapped, therapeutic target.
Methods & field site
Thermal stress & the gut–brain axis
Microbial composition, Oxidative stress and epigenetic responses along the gut–brain axis as water temperatures rise.
Imaging & sequencing pipeline
Immunoassays, molecular techniques and glial imaging combined with deep sequencing and metagenomics to connect microbial and neural data directly.
Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre
In addition to UFV research lab, experimental work carried out at BMSC, with direct access to marine and coastal fish models.