Marcel van de Wouw, PhD

photograph of mountain scenery overlaid with save-the-date information for the Having IMPACTT 6 Symposium in Canmore, AB

Please save the date!

We are excited to announce that our "Having IMPACTT" Symposium will be back for another engaging event!

More details will be sent out in the coming weeks. Subscribe to updates at the link in our profile.

Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential studies underpinning these...

New paper with @statsepi.bsky.social and @deevybee.bsky.social in which we show there's really no evidence for a link between the gut microbiome and autism www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Childhood gut microbiome is linked to internalizing symptoms at school age via the functional connectome Nature Communications - Here, the authors find that relative abundances of stress-sensitive gastrointestinal microbes at age 2 years predicts internalizing symptoms in middle childhood through...

Just out! ✨ Using a novel machine learning approach, we identify a developmental pathway by which the early life gut microbiome may shape mental health at school age via effects on functional brain development. This work can help identify microbial biomarkers of later health issues. 👉 rdcu.be/eNsUK

Congrats to Yancong, Amrisha, Xochitl, Eric and all co-authors!!!

Distinguishing diet- and microbe-derived metabolites in the human gut - Microbiome Background Human gut microbes metabolize food and host secretions, consuming and producing small molecules that are important to health and homeostasis. Here, we present an atlas of diet- and microbio...

Looks interesting 👀: Distinguishing diet- and microbe-derived metabolites in the human gut microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Is a healthy microbiome one that is rich in phages? 🦠 Excited to share our paper out in Lancet Microbe with @bkoskella.bsky.social & @dholtappels.bsky.social where we test whether virome diversity can be used a broad signature of microbiome health 📈

Canadian National Organoid Network (CNON). Why join CNON? Access our protocols; organoid culture in-person training; expedited organoid ordering and support; stay in the loop about the latest organoid research; membership is FREE

Our third sponsored talk was given by Dr. Simon Hirota, co-director of the Canadian National Organoid Network (CNON). CNON is free to join and gives researchers access to protocols, in-person training, and help with organoid ordering and research. canadianorganoidnetwork.ca

Multicenter RCT in @lancetgastrohep.bsky.social:
FMT (with live microbes) prevents recurrent C. diff far better than fecal filtrates.
Thanks to Dina Kao (@ualberta.bsky.social) & @tsbschm.bsky.social from
@apcmicrobiomeirel.bsky.social), and whole team.
🔗 authors.elsevier.com/c/1lphg8nByr...

The Weston Family Foundation’s Microbiome Initiative supports groundbreaking research, accelerating the application of the microbiome to improve healthy aging for all Canadians. Westonfoundation.ca. 120+ projects supported. $22M for Proof-of-Principle and Catalyst projects. $10M for Scaling Funding. $15M for Transformational Research and Brain Health projects. $18M for other programs, including Healthy Brain Healthy Aging, Canadian Organoid Network, and Canadian Microbiome Mapping Initiative.

The Weston Family Foundation is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of #HavingIMPACTT2025. Through their Microbiome Initiative, they support groundbreaking research that accelerates the application of the microbiome to transform healthy aging for all Canadians. Visit bit.ly/4na4thJ to learn more.

Personalized Clostridioides difficile colonization risk prediction and probiotic therapy assessment in the human gut Carr et al. show how microbial community-scale metabolic models (MCMMs) predict personalized Clostridioides difficile colonization risk and probiotic efficacy. MCMMs reveal key metabolic strategies ex...

💥Personalized C. difficile colonization risk prediction and probiotic therapy assessment in the human gut💥

I'm very excited about this work, driven by Alex Carr & co-supervised by @cdiener.com

@cp-cellsystems.bsky.social @isbscience.org @nitinbaliga.bsky.social

www.cell.com/cell-systems...

🧵...

Credible inferences in microbiome research: ensuring rigour, reproducibility and relevance in the era of AI - Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool that could be applied to microbiome research. This Perspective discusses best practices and current limitations with the application of AI in microbiome...

Credible inferences in microbiome research: ensuring rigour, reproducibility and relevance in the era of AI www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Today is the last day to submit your abstract and get our early-bird registration rate for #HavingIMPACTT2025!

Exciting Senior Scientist 👩‍🔬 👨‍🔬 role available in my research group 🧠 🦠 - Closing date Tuesday 5th August 2025.

Please Share

@apcmicrobiomeirel.bsky.social @anatneuroucc.bsky.social
Full details here
my.corehr.com/pls/uccrecru...

Having IMPACTT 5: Advancing Microbiome Research. Sept 22-24, 2025, Canmore, Canada. "Location, Location, Location": Nestled in the Canadian Rockies Mountains at a premium hotel, our symposium offers stunning views and luxury rooms, just steps from walking trails and the city centre. "Renowned Speakers": Fourteen invited speakers from around the world who are leaders in their fields. "Presenter Awards": Nineteen awards available for graduate student and postdoc presenters. "Registration & Abstract Submission": Early-bird registration and abstract submissions are open until July 15, 2025! www.impactt-microbiome.ca

Just 3 weeks until our early-bird registration & abstract submission deadline for our #HavingIMPACTT2025 microbiome symposium on Sep 22-24, 2025 in Canmore, Canada! We have tons of awards and an incredible speaker lineup, so you don't want to miss out! www.impactt-microbiome.ca/having-impac...

Led by Emily Wroot, I present our recent Comment in @natmicrobiol.nature.com

"Opportunities for microbiome-based therapeutics in preterm infants"

Hopefully this provides a timely insight for clinicians and researchers interested in preterm infants, and beyond!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Presenter Awards, for presenters chosen from abstracts. Travel Award, sponsored by the Weston Family Foundation. Best Short Talk, sponsored by NKP-Isotec. Best Flash Talk, sponsored by the Rosell Institute for Microbiome and Probiotics. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Posters, sponsored by Mucosal Immunology. Plus TEN additional travel awards! Date: Sept 22-24, 2025. Location: Canmore, Canada.

We are excited to share that we have SIXTEEN (16) awards for presenters this year at #HavingIMPACTT2025 - our most ever! Submit your abstract before our July 15, 2025 deadline, and remember to register early, as spaces are first-come first-served! www.impactt-microbiome.ca/having-impac...

FDA’s shift from animal testing opens doors for organoid makers New policy could be a windfall for makers of nonanimal models

The FDA says that over the next 3–5 years it aims “to make animal studies the exception rather than the norm” for preclinical safety testing, starting with monoclonal antibodies and eventually encompassing all drugs. cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

PLEASE SHARE We’re hiring a contract #bioinformatician (research officer) to analyse #microbiome data from an ongoing, exciting project focusing on preterm birth prevention with oral probiotics

topjobs-teagasc.thehirelab.com/LiveJobs/Job...

#phd #microbiology #microbiome #fermentation #fermented #bioinformatics… | Paul Cotter PLEASE SHARE Excited to announce that we have several PhD fellowship positions to fill in our laboratory at Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Ireland over the coming months. These relate to: (...

PLEASE SHARE - Several new PhD positions to fill in our lab
@teagasc.bsky.social @apcmicrobiomeirel.bsky.social @vistamilk.bsky.social

#microbiome #fermentation #food #health

www.linkedin.com/posts/paul-c...

Humans & the Microbiome: Educational Modules for Public Health Professionals - CIFAR The human microbiome (microbes living in and on us, and their genomes) is a critical yet often overlooked factor influencing public health. Public health has […]

📢 Just launched!

FREE educational modules about the #microbiome - including one about #breastfeeding.

This flexible curriculum includes slide decks, speaker notes, learning activities & recorded lectures.

Please use, share, and send feedback!

cifar.ca/cifarnews/20...

Detecting microbial engraftment after FMT using placebo sequencing and culture enriched metagenomics to sort signals from noise - Nature Communications Here, the authors profile bacterial engraftment in UC patients receiving FMT from a single donor and placebo samples to estimate noise, showing a significant level of false-positive engraftment, which...

A lot of what looks like microbial engraftment after FMT might actually be noise. Using placebo sequencing and culture-enriched metagenomics, we sort signal from noise. Our latest from the Surette lab: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @surettem.bsky.social @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social

📢 Funding announcement: Our POP2025 call for applications is now open!

The Weston Family Foundation is funding Canadian researchers in advancing microbiome-based interventions to improve therapeutic responses or health outcomes.

For more info and to apply now: westonfoundation.ca/grant_call/p...

The gut microbiota promotes pain in fibromyalgia Cai et al. revealed that transplanting gut microbiota from women with fibromyalgia—a chronic widespread pain condition of unknown etiology—into mice induces pain. It also induces phenotypes commonly o...

New research links fibromyalgia pain to the gut microbiome. Transplanting healthy gut bacteria reduced pain in mice—and in a small clinical trial, improved symptoms in women.
@karapedsgastrodoc.bsky.social
@nyupainresearch.bsky.social
www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Acute Stress-induced Alterations in Short-Chain Fatty Acids: Implications for the Intestinal and Blood Brain Barriers Unravelling the features of the whole-body response to acute stress exposures is critical to understand this neglected building block of chronic stres…

Excited to share a new publication out!

“Acute Stress-induced Alterations in Short-Chain Fatty Acids: Implications for the Intestinal and Blood Brain Barriers”.

@jfcryan.bsky.social
@apcmicrobiomeirel.bsky.social
@sarah-janeleigh.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Commentary published on Microbiome Stewardship! Our collaborative team of researchers (bioethicists (Kieran and Diego), bioinformaticians (Rob), host microbial ecologists (Sue and Emma), and soil microbial ecologists (Mallory), had our first co-authored paper published in mSystems! Our paper is a commentary on the concept and need for microbiome stewardship, and outlines the research and policy priorities that are the focus of our ongoing research.

Commentary published on Microbiome Stewardship!

Our collaborative team of researchers (bioethicists (Kieran and Diego), bioinformaticians (Rob), host microbial ecologists (Sue and Emma), and soil microbial ecologists (Mallory), had our first co-authored paper published in mSystems! Our paper is a…

The NiMe Diet: Scientific Principles and... | ERA Industrialized diets – high in processed foods and low in fibre – disrupt the gut microbiome and predispose us to chronic diseases, such...

Eat to support your #microbiome. Anissa Armet and I are thrilled to announce our FREE 'science cookbook' on The NiMe Diet, bit.ly/41BV0HW, covering the story behind our research published in @cp-cell.bsky.social. If around Cork, register freely for an evening with the Creators on March 10th.

Everybody poops, but not every day. Study finds link between bowel movement frequency and overall health.

Open access
www.cell.com/cell-reports...

🚨 PhD Opportunity in Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis & Bioinformatics! 🚨
Are you passionate about microbiome science, #Bioinformatics, and #Neuroscience? We’re looking for a highly motivated #PhD student to join the #Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis Research Group with @jfcryan.bsky.social and Ger Clarke

🚀 New Research Alert! 🧠🦠
Our latest study highlights Bacteroides and their extracellular vesicles (EVs) as next-generation psychobiotics, with exciting potential for mental health applications.

🔬 Read more: doi.org/10.1016/j.cr...

#GutBrainAxis #Psychobiotics #Microbiome #Bacteroides

Select microbial metabolites in the small intestinal lumen regulates vagal activity via receptor-mediated signaling Neuroscience; Microbiome

Delighted to highlight new work by Kelly Jameson and colleagues showing that select microbial metabolites in the small intestinal lumen regulate vagal activity
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...