Our gastro-intestinal tract is colonized by billions of microorganisms that constitute the intestinal flora or microbiota. These microorganisms, primarily bacteria, are required for our development and physiology; however, changes in the “normal” composition of the microbiota, referred to as dysbiosis, have been linked to chronic inflammatory diseases in humans. Currently, a major research effort is […]

Aphids are one of the most destructive pests of agricultural and horticultural crops, damaging plants through their feeding and also by vectoring plant pathogens. In Canada, crop losses due to aphids and the pathogens they vector are significant and forecast to increase as global warming progresses and new aphid species become established with more generations […]

The goal of this research project is to explore the current definition of obesity along with the association of body fat distribution and biochemical markers with serious health conditions. Our investigation will employ the utilization of the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (the current gold standard to measure body fat percentage, subcutaneous body fat and visceral body […]

Emma Allen-Vercoe has established a world leading capability to grow microbes in a controlled environment. The intent of our newly established Biotech company – NuBiyota – will be to translate this exciting capability into a therapeutic product. The project we are proposing will leverage Kathleen’s expertise and experience in professor Allen-Vercoe’s lab, combined with the […]

This project aims to explore the association between sleep disturbances and cognitive function in Parkinson’s disease (PD) through multimodal neuroimaging. Sleep issues, including insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, affect a significant portion of PD patients and are linked to cognitive impairments. This project will investigate how these sleep disturbances […]

Identification of insect prey is essential for understanding the foraging behaviours of insectivorous bat and bird predators. The intern will develop software tools that will aid a skilled entomologist with the rapid identification of insects from photographs taken from field collecting sites. The proposed tools will facilitate the identification of photographed insects to order/suborder and, […]

Two-photon microscopy is a powerful imaging technique that allows to visualize and study living cells in the brain, immune system, and skin. It currently relies on lasers that emit specific pulse durations, but other pulse configurations may work just as well or better, and can be produced with smaller, more affordable lasers. This could make […]

There is a critical period during late gestation in humans and perinatally in atricial animals like rats and mice , during which the building blocks of energy homeostasis, including the hypothalamic regulation of food intake and energy balance become established. During this early postnatal period, neuronal dendritic and axonal elongation as well as pruning takes […]

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) affect millions of people worldwide. When considering dietary strategies to offset T2D, the focus has been mainly to reduce amounts and specific types of fat and carbohydrates, with very little consideration given to protein sources. Earlier studies done by the applicant and colleagues showed that dietary protein composition influences […]

Agricultural crop losses from fungal pathogens such as blackleg (Leptospheria maculans), a major disease of Canola, results in millions of dollars of economic losses each year. The rapid and conclusive identification of the presence of a fungal crop pathogen in a field before planting can help producers make informed decisions about crop selection. This project, […]

The principal objective of this proposal is to discover novel drugs to treat colon cancers. Currently colon cancer is a huge medical problem and there are many disadvantages to current drug therapies. These disadvantages include their ineffectiveness to completely eradicate cancers, causing toxic side effects and the development of multidrug resistance. A group of compounds […]

Devant le nombre grandissant d’études sur l’effet des médicaments pris pendant la grossesse, les chercheurs et cliniciens sont confrontés à une multitude de résultats, parfois contradictoires. Les méta-analyses peuvent aider à évaluer la qualité et à synthétiser ces études. Les résultats des méta-analyses peuvent toutefois être biaisés par le biais de publication, qui survient lorsque […]