Emma Todd, Gut Microbiome PhD Candidate

I've had the amazing opportunity to participate in Future Science Talks at MICF this year! If you like scientific-comedy, or are a fan of copious powerpoint animations, then come to the show! Tickets can be bought here: lnkd.in/gRdqfJBw or through scanning the QR code in the flyer.

I'm officially one of the next #SuperstarsOfSTEM !!!

I have been chosen by Science & Technology Australia as one of 60 STEM professionals to take part in the Superstars program for 2025-2026.

I'm excited to learn lots, meet my fellow Superstars, and inspire the next generation of scientists 🌟

Amazing!

A two panel figure. Left panel shows a flowchart with the text "2393 machine learning studies predicting depression/anxiety" flowing to "117 studies included in systematic review" to icons representing 'Performance' 'model type' 'data category' 'feature importance' and 'risk of bias (PROBAST)'. The other panel summarises the results, saying there was moderate-high performance for predicting depression/anxiety, that most models used only biological predictors, and that in models using a range of predictors demographic-environmental predictors were commonly in the top 10 most important variables (with pictograms showing that the next most used were biological, psycho-social, and lifestyle). Studies were highly heterogeneous with high risk of bias and low applicability.

Have you ever wondered what sorts of inputs would make the best machine learning model for common mental disorders? Are ML studies making the most of the promise surrounding Lifestyle Psychiatry? Well I set out to investigate this in my first PhD paper which has just been published! lnkd.in/gVMJnabs

Four maps of the united states, each coloured by the proportion of border encounters experienced by a given demographic group (Accompanied minors, family groups, single adults, and single minors). The gif shifts between different years of data. The 'single adults' plot has the highest percent of total encounters across all years.

#TidyTuesday turned into more of a TidyThursday for me - need to get back into the swing of things. For some reason I felt compelled to make a map for this one. Not sure it's the most visually interesting plot I've made but it was cool to try some new things (maps and animation!)

So cute! Love the look of the dendogram necklace in some of the pictures - is it out of stock though?

CARN | Community and Research Network CARN SEMINAR SERIES Interactive online sessions bringing together the community and local research. Thursday 21st November 12:00-1:00pm Linda Smillie Plant-based diets: exploring health impacts and implementation Emma Todd The Gut Microbiome and Depression Register via Zoom - link via QR code. There is a graphic of a person speaking, the CARN logo, a QR code, the IMPACT logo and the Deakin logo, and photos of each of the presenters.

Tomorrow I'll be presenting at the CARN seminar series. If you want to hear some fun facts about the gut microbiome, along with some insights into the implementation of plant based diets from my co-presenter Linda Smillie feel free to come along! Register here: lnkd.in/g4PaRpVW

2024 Deakin University - Three Minute Thesis (3MT®): Emma Todd (Runner-up) YouTube video by Deakin University

If you're keen to hear a snapshot of my PhD, feel free to check out my #3MT talk on Deakin's Youtube channel. While you're there, I'd highly recommend checking the playlist of the other entrants - it was an amazing year! www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvVD...

Hi all! I'm a PhD candidate at the Food and Mood centre, Deakin University.

My thesis is examining how we can leverage the interaction between lifestyle and the gut microbiome to predict depression risk using Machine Learning.

Follow for all things microbiome, ML, and data visualisation :)