Mnd

Scialog

/

Microbiome, Neurobiology and Disease

2021-2023

A growing body of evidence shows that the gut microbiome affects the brain in both normal and disease states.  This finding leads to a number of questions, among them what are the biochemical and biophysical steps that constitute the gut-brain axis? What are the signaling molecules that facilitate this communication and how do they work? Do changes to the microbiome initiate neurophysiological outcomes or are they lagging indicators of neurobiological events?  This Scialog will bring together chemists, physicists, biologists and neurophysiologists to explore these and other issues with the goal of designing and launching innovative, cross-disciplinary studies with the potential to transform our understanding of this complex system.

Fellows & Facilitators

Fellows
Facilitators

Team Awards

Goal: to advance fundamental understanding of the gut-brain axis and the roles microbiota play in neurodegenerative disorders.

2023 Team Awards

Could Feces be Used as a Natural Time Capsule for Mapping of Signal-Generating Hubs within the Gut?

  • Abhishek Shrivastava
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University
  • Kai Zhang
    Biochemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

How Does the Microbiome-Gut-Brain Cascade Activate Glia? A Single-Cell Transcriptomic and Functional Roadmap in the Fruit Fly

  • Will Ludington, Embryology, Carnegie Institution
    Karthik Shekhar, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering / Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley

Investigating the Influence of Air Pollution VOCs on Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology

  • Mei Shen
    Chemistry, Neuroscience Program, Beckman Institute
    University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

    Heather Bean
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University

    Yanjiao Zhou, Medicine, UConn Health

Decipher the “Molecular Language’ between Microbiota-Microglia Crosstalk Using a Genetically Tractable Microbiome

  • Chun-Jun Guo
    Medicine
    Weill Cornell Medical College

    Yanjiao Zhou
    Medicine
    UConn Health

    Annie Ciernia
    Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
    University of British Columbia

Identification of Microglial Receptors for Microbiota Derived Metabolites

  • Annie Ciernia
    Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
    University of British Columbia

    Christopher Whidbey
    Chemistry
    Seattle University

The Role of Gut Metabolites in “Chemobrain”

  • Stephanie Cologna
    Chemistry
    University of Illinois Chicago *

    Leah Pyter
    Psychiatry
    Ohio State University

* Funded by Walder Foundation

Embracing Complexity: Exploring the Connections between Chronic Fatigue, Behavior, and Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  • Sarah MacEachern
    Pediatrics
    University of Calgary

    Kendall Corbin
    Horticulture
    University of Kentucky

    Heather Bean
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University

Gut Catecholamine Levels as Modulators of Addiction Behaviors

  • Dhara Shah
    Mathematical & Natural Sciences
    Arizona State University

    Santiago Cuesta
    Cell Biology and Neuroscience
    Rutgers University
2022 Team Awards

Electrifying Mechanisms of Intestinal α-Synuclein Aggregation in Parkinson’s Disease Onset

  • Elizabeth Bess
    Chemistry
    University of California, Irvine

    Aida Ebrahimi
    Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
    Pennsylvania State University

Diurnal Rhythms in Microbiota-Gut-Brain Signaling Leads to Time-of-Day Dependent Susceptibility to Stroke

  • Annika Barber
    Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
    Rutgers University

    David Durgan
    Anesthesiology
    Baylor College of Medicine

The Intersection of Age, Microbiome and the Zeal for Continuous Learning by Cells of the Neuro-Immune Network

  • Linnea Freeman
    Biology
    Furman University

    Gianna Hammer
    Immunology
    University of Utah

    Lisa Osborne
    Microbiology & Immunology
    University of British Columbia

Understanding the Protective Effect of Helminth Immunotherapy Through the Lens of the Gut-Brain Axis

  • Lisa Osborne
    Microbiology & Immunology
    University of British Columbia

    Ukpong Eyo
    Neuroscience
    University of Virginia

Unraveling the Effect and Mechanism of Enteric Microbiota-Neuron Communication in Aging

  • Yanjiao Zhou
    Medicine
    UConn Health

    Ashley Ross
    Chemistry
    University of Cincinnati

Identifying Mycobiome-Derived Enteric Neuromodulators

  • Iliyan Iliev
    Medicine
    Weill Cornell Medicine

    Faranak Fattahi
    Biochemistry and Biophysics
    University of California, San Francisco

Tracking Alpha-synuclein from Enteroendocrine Cells to the Enteric Nervous System

  • Elizabeth Bess
    Chemistry
    University of California, Irvine

    Stephanie Cologna
    Chemistry
    University of Illinois Chicago *

* Funded by Walder Foundation

2021 Team Awards

Harnessing the Microbiome to Combat the Neurotoxic Effects of Dietary Mercury      

  • Elaine Hsiao
    Integrative Biology & Physiology
    University of California, Los Angeles

    Amina Schartup
    Scripps Institution of Oceanography

    Mei Shen
    Chemistry, Neuroscience Program
    Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Do Aging Microbiomes Evolve Pathogenicity Via Gene Shedding? Using Evolutionary Theory to Deconstruct Microbiome-based Neurodegeneration    

  • Nandita Garud
    Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    University of California, Los Angeles

    Will Ludington
    Embryology
    Carnegie Institution

Do Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) Act as Modulators of Microbiota-brain Communication Involved in the Development of Neurological Diseases? 

  • David Durgan
    Anesthesiology
    Baylor College of Medicine

    Abhishek Shrivastava
    School of Life Sciences
    Arizona State University

Species-specific Modulation of Human Enteric Neurons by Gut Microbiome Metabolites

  • Faranak Fattahi
    Biochemistry and Biophysics
    University of California, San Francisco

    Mark Mimee
    Microbiology/Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
    University of Chicago

Engineering Enteric Neuron Activity to Enhance Antimicrobial Immunity in the Gut 

  • Maayan Levy
    Microbiology
    University of Pennsylvania

    Ashley Ross
    Chemistry
    University of Cincinnati

    Kai Zhang
    Biochemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Impact of Missing Microbes on Brain Development

  • Carolina Tropini
    Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Engineering
    University of British Columbia

    JP Yu
    Radiology, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Engineering
    University of Wisconsin-Madison


              


 

Conference Booklets

SPONSORS

Additional Support