OBI Public Talk: Exploring the Brain-Gut Axis
Your diet has a profound impact on brain function. This OBI Public Talk, the first in the 2025-26 Breakthroughs in Brain Science series, will look at the influence gut microbiomes have on neuroinflammation, neurodevelopment, and neurodegeneration, among other aspects of brain function.
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Please join us for a reception immediately following the in-person talk.
Panelists:
- Dr. Premysl Bercik is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and member of the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute at McMaster University. His clinical interest lies in functional bowel disorders, intestinal dysmotility, gastroparesis and celiac disease. His basic research focuses on the role of intestinal bacteria in gut-brain axis in the context of gut function, low-grade inflammation and behavior, including anxiety and depression.
- Dr. Valerie Taylor is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary. Prior to this, she was the chief of Psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital and the chief of Adult Health Services at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. Her academic focus has been on the area of medical psychiatry, with a focus on biomarkers and an interest in the gut-brain axis and the area of the gut microbiome She is also CEO of Taylored Biotherapeutics, a drug discovery start-up. This area of Dr. Taylor's work is currently supported, in part, by OBI's NERVE program and Branch Out.
- Dr. Chao Wang is an assistant professor at the Department of Immunology at University of Toronto and a scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. As the Canada Research Chair in Immunometabolism of Neuroinflammation, she looks at the dynamic role of the immune system in the progression of neurological disorders such as major depression and autism spectrum disorders. Her team focuses on understanding how stress impact the brain in such contexts and identifying factors that can promote stress resilience. Dr. Wang is also a member of the POND Network, an OBI Integrated Discovery Program.
Moderated by: Dr. Olivia Ghosh-Swaby, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Kinesiology at Western University. Olivia's research explores the intersection of metabolic health and cognitive aging, with a focus on how risk factors for obesity and type 2 diabetes impact brain function in older adults.
Thank you Branch Out, a Canadian organization working to accelerate neuroscience for brains at their best, for their support of this event.
> Learn more about the Breakthroughs in Brain Science series