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Awards & Scholarships

Congratulations to Madeline on Receiving a 2026 Peter Wall Legacy Award!

We are thrilled to celebrate Madeline, MSc student in the Gibson Lab, as a recipient of a 2026 Peter Wall Research Award for Graduate Students. Her project, “Effects of glyphosate exposure on the gut microbiomes of free-ranging forest mammals,” will investigate how glyphosate-based herbicide use in British Columbia may affect forest ecology through changes in the gut microbiomes of wild mammals. The graduate student awards provide $25,000 for Master’s students, supporting innovative research addressing important sustainability challenges in British Columbia. Congratulations, Madeline, a fantastic and well-deserved achievement!

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Gibson Team Publications Uncategorized

Dr. Gibson Shares the Science of the Gut Microbiome at Insights Live

Dr. Deanna Gibson took the stage at UBC Okanagan’s Insights Live: Gut Health, Immunity & Mental Wellness, sharing her research on the gut microbiome and its far-reaching connections to immunity, digestion, and mental well-being. It was a fantastic evening of science communication, bringing cutting-edge microbiome research beyond the lab and into the Kelowna community. We are proud to see Dr. Gibson showcasing the impact of our research and inspiring conversations about the future of gut health.

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Awards & Scholarships

Congratulations to Jenna Hastie on presenting her research.

Jenna’s research explored an engineered live biotherapeutic in a humanized mouse model of colitis, showing reduced disease severity and changes in intestinal barrier and inflammatory gene expression. Great work, Jenna

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Publications

Unraveling The Microbiome -Brain Links in Chronic Colitis: New Insights from Tryptophan Metabolism

Congratulations to Jessica K. Josephson and colleagues for their newly published paper, “Microbiome‑driven alterations in tryptophan metabolism contribute to behavioural comorbidities in the Muc2 knockout mouse model of chronic colitis,” in Taylor and Francis – Gut Microbes.

This study tackles a growing challenge in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): the rise of neurobehavioral comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive dysfunction. Using the Muc2⁻/⁻ mouse model of chronic colitis, the authors investigated how gut inflammation and microbial dysbiosis reshape tryptophan metabolism and how these metabolic shifts relate to changes in behaviour. These findings show a clear connection between microbiome‑driven metabolic changes and the behavioural symptoms that accompany chronic colitis.

Check out the full paper here!

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Publications

Rethinking Glyphosate and Long-Term Health Impacts

Congratulations to Dr. Jacqueline A. Barnett, a former PhD student in the Gibson Lab, for their publication of the perspective article, “Glyphosate: North America’s toxic food crops and the enduring legacy of disease,” in Frontiers in Environmental Health.

In this article, we take a closer look at glyphosate-based herbicides and ask whether current safety assessments are sufficient to capture their broader long-term impacts. Using a public and environmental health lens, we discuss how glyphosate exposure may intersect with the gut microbiome, epigenetics, cumulative exposure, biodiversity, ecological health, and environmental justice. This perspective highlights the need for more systems-based approaches when evaluating chemicals used across modern food systems.

Read the full article here!

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Awards & Scholarships

Congrats Dorsa for winning the Canada Impact+ Research Training Award (CIRTA) from CIHR!

She has been awarded the Canada Impact+ Research Training Award (CIRTA) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the International Four-Year Doctoral Partial Tuition Award (IDPT) in support of her doctoral studies.

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Awards & Scholarships

Congrats Jenna for winning the NSERC-USRA Award!

Jenna Hastie is an undergraduate student who has been volunteering at the Gibson Lab since September 2025. She has won the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) and will be continuing working with our team this summer.

Congratulations Jenna!

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Awards & Scholarships

Congrats Emad for winning the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award!

Dr. Emad Yuzbashian is a postdoctoral fellow who joined our team in fall of 2024. He is excellent at research, especially working with large data ranging from diet, meta-analysis, and bioinformatics. Emad has recently received the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Congratulations Emad!

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Awards & Scholarships

Congrats Madeline for winning the Best Poster Presenter Award – again!

Our Master student, Madeline has won the Best Poster Presenter Award at Genome BC’s 2026 Annual Genomics Forum. Her research is focused on studying the impact of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup®, on the microbiome of wildlife animals that are in proximate areas where the herbicide is used for forestry and agricultural purposes. Her research is part of the GROW (Glyphosate Research on forest Organisms and Wildlife health) project, which in collaboration with the Swan River First Nation, the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, the British Columbia Wildlife Federation, and the British Columbia and Alberta Trappers Associations, assessing the effects of glyphosate on wildlife health.

Congrats Madeline for her second best presenter award this year!

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Publications

The therapeutic potential of EcN::ttr

Congratulations Dr. Andrea Verdugo-Meza for her publication of her new article titled “Bioengineering a Probiotic to Bloom During Colonic Inflammation Promotes Reliable Efficacy in Translational Models of Colitis”. This research article showcases the potential for the EcN::ttr (BioPersistTM) to ameliorate the symptoms and severity of inflammatory bowel diseases such as colitis.

Visit here to access the full article!

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