Experts

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The following scientists, doctors and other experts shared their expertise on the human microbiome for our documentary about kids and microbes.

Dr. B. Brett Finlay, Microbiologist

Dr. B. Brett Finlay, Microbiologist

Dr Finlay is professor of microbiology at the University of British Columbia and a world leader in how bacterial infections work. He has been studying microbes for over thirty years and has published over four hundred and fifty articles. Also a founder of the biotech companies Inimex, Vedanta, and Microbiome Insights, Brett is Officer of the Order of Canada—the highest Canadian civilian recognition. He lives in Vancouver, BC, with his wife, who is a pediatrician, and has two grown-up kids.

Take a look at what is being researched in his lab.

Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta, Microbiologist

Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta, Microbiologist

Dr. Arrieta is assistant professor at the University of Calgary and has been studying intestinal microbiology and immunology for over 10 years. Her recent study connecting asthma in very young babies to missing key intestinal bacterial species was deemed a breakthrough in the field and was reported by dozens of news outlets around the world. Arrieta has published in leading scientific journals such as Gastroenterology, PNAS, and Science Translational Medicine. She spends her busy days juggling between experiments, science writing, kindergarten pick-ups, and play dates for her two young children.

Dr. Meghan Azad, Pediatrician & Geneticist

Dr. Meghan Azad, Pediatrician & Geneticist

Dr. Meghan Azad is an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada. She serves on the Breastfeeding Committee of Canada and is an Executive Councillor for the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation. Meghan co-leads the Manitoba site of the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study, a national pregnancy cohort following 3500 children to understand how early life experiences and gene-environment interactions shape lifelong health. Meghan explains her data on microbes in breastmilk and why the way infants receive breastmilk matters too.She also helps us understand how perceptions of breastfeeding affect all of us society-wide – not just mothers and babies.

Dr. Najwa El-Nachef, Gastroenterologist

Dr. Najwa El-Nachef, Gastroenterologist

Dr. El-Nachef is a gastroenterologist practicing at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, Califorina. She shares her pioneering research around fecal microbiota transplantation for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and recurrent C. diff infections to help us understand why this therepy is gaining so much media attention.

Dr. Katya Gerwein, Pediatrician

Dr. Katya Gerwein, Pediatrician

Dr. Gerwein received her B.A. in social anthropology from Harvard, returning to Harvard Medical School and then completing her pediatrics residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Gerwein’s clinical interests include breastfeeding, nutrition, preventative medicine, and making pediatric care a positive experience for her patients.

Dr. Jack Gilbert, Microbiologist

Dr. Jack Gilbert, Microbiologist

Dr. Gilbert is a Professor in Pediatrics and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. He cofounded the American Gut Project with Rob Knight and co-authored “Dirt is Good” published in 2017, a popular science guide to the microbiome and children’s health. Jack provides clear and memorable metaphors throughtout the film to help us understand environmental factors that can illuminate differing asthna rates, the value and promise of pro and pre-biotics, and exactly how microbes are in involved in feeling “hangry”.

Dr. Suchitra Hourigan, Pediatric Gastroenterologist

Dr. Suchitra Hourigan, Pediatric Gastroenterologist

Dr. Hourigan is the principal investigator on the first randomized controlled trial of vaginal seeding for infants born by cesarean-section. This new study will help determine if there are health benefits from the vaginal seeding of C-section delivered newborns and whether this practice is safe. Suchi helps us understand exactly what the procedure entails and why evidence from her study could change the practice of obstetrics as we know it.

Dr. Stuart Turvey, Pediatric Immunologist

Dr. Stuart Turvey, Pediatric Immunologist

Dr. Turvey is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and a pediatric immunologist based at BC Children’s Hospital. He’s also the Co-Director of Allergen’s groundbreaking Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study. Stuart’s research program is translational, interdisciplinary and unique in its focus on understanding the role of innate immunity in infectious and inflammatory diseases of childhood. In this film, Stuart lays out the connection between gut bacteria and diseases such as asthma, allergies and more, walking us through the way it looks like microbes may be shaping our health.

Dr. Cecilia Ximenez, Microbiologist

Dr. Cecilia Ximenez, Microbiologist

Dr. Ximenez, also known as La Doctora, is the head of the Experimental Medicine Unit at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She is particularly interested in tropical diseases, molecular cloning, and in parasites that can offer protection around so many developed country diseases such as asthma and allergies.

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