Melius MicroBiomics Inc.A recent feature by UBC News highlights how years of microbiome research in Dr. Deanna Gibson’s lab at UBCO led to the creation of Melius MicroBiomics (MMB). The article explores the journey from solving why standard probiotics struggle in an inflamed gut to bioengineering targeted microbial therapeutics, all while building a thriving biotech hub and creating research jobs right here in Kelowna as the company approaches its first clinical trials.
Link: Read the full article on UBC News
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!
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.
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
We are excited to celebrate our Master’s student, Madeline Frazer, as a recipient of a prestigious scholarship through the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF)!
These awards provide $10,000 to support impactful graduate research in wildlife management and conservation across British Columbia. Madeline was recently featured in regional coverage for her outstanding work and research contributions.
Congratulations, Madeline!
News Article: Read the coverage in the North Island Gazette
Dr. Deanna Gibson is leading a new Genome BC-funded project through the DAIA2 program titled “Integrated Multi-Omics to Predict and Understand IBD.” The research investigates how interactions between diet, genomic data, and the gut microbiome can help predict flare-ups and enable personalized care for individuals living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Link: Read the full news feature on the Centre for Brain Health website
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!
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!
After more than a decade of dedicated research in Dr. Deanna Gibson’s lab, we are thrilled to share that UBC Okanagan News has highlighted our team’s exciting milestone: our bioengineered probiotic therapeutic is officially heading to human clinical trials!
Standard commercial probiotics often struggle to make an impact during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flare-ups because they tend to wash out of the gut, essentially, trying to plant a seed in a burning field. To solve this, our team, led by Dr. Deanna Gibson and Dr. Andrea Verdugo-Meza (who completed her PhD in the lab), alongside former MSc student Sandeep Gill, set out to flip the script.
Instead of fighting the inflammation, we engineered a specialized live biotherapeutic designed to use inflammation as fuel.
In pre-clinical studies, the modified strain successfully bloomed precisely when and where active colitis occurred, naturally receding once healing began. What makes these findings so encouraging is the broad-spectrum effect: we observed significant improvements across the gut barrier, the immune response, and the overall microbial community, all achieved with low, infrequent dosing and without antibiotics.
This incredible journey from bench science to clinical translation marks a major step forward for microbiome medicine, paving the way for targeted treatments that work in harmony with the body’s natural biology.
Read the full feature on UBC’s Okanagan News: Researchers Engineer a Probiotic That’s Heading to Human Trials
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.
