Dr. Jack Gilbert
Dr. Jack Gilbert is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, as well as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Marine Science, Director of the Microbiome and Metagenomics Center, and director of the Microbiome Core Facility. He is also president of Applied Microbiology International.
Dr. Gilbert earned his PhD from Nottingham University in the UK and completed postdoctoral training at Queen’s University in Ontario. He was a senior scientist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the UK from 2005 to 2010, then, from 2010 to 2018, he was a Group Leader for Microbial Ecology at Argonne National Laboratory, a Professor of Surgery, and Director of the Microbiome Center at the University of Chicago. He joined the University of California San Diego in 2019.
Dr. Gilbert uses molecular analysis to test fundamental hypotheses in microbial ecology and has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on the topic.
Dr. Gilbert is the co-founder of the Earth Microbiome Project and American Gut Project, the founding Editor in Chief of mSystems journal, and founder of BiomeSense Inc., which produces automated microbiome sensors. He is also the co-author of Dirt is Good, a popular science guide to the microbiome and children’s health. In 2021, Dr. Gilbert became the University of California San Diego’s principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health’s $175-million Nutrition for Precision Medicine program.
Dr. Elena Verdu
Dr. Elena Verdu is a professor of gastroenterology in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University and Canada Research Chair in Microbial Therapeutics and Nutrition in Gastroenterology.
She graduated as MD from the University of Buenos Aires, where she trained in medicine and gastroenterology and lectured on gastrointestinal physiology at the Department of Human Physiology. She then obtained a doctorate in clinical and translational gastrointestinal research from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, exploring the interaction between chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori and proton pump inhibitors on gastric acid secretion, bacterial overgrowth, and chronic gastritis. During her PhD work in the Department of Gnotobiology and Microbiology at the Czech Academy of Science, she gained experience in animal models of inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal microbiota. As a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University, she identified the role of certain probiotics in in modulating visceral pain pathways.
Dr. Verdu became a faculty member at McMaster University in 2006. Her research program focuses on the pathophysiology of inflammatory disorders, such as IBD and celiac disease, with emphasis on diet-microbiota interactions.
Dr. Verdu is an elected fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Secretary of the International Society for the Study of Celiac disease, and Senior Associate Editor of Gastroenterology (Basic Science). She was founding member and past president of the North American Association for the Study of Celiac Disease, and has received several awards, including the Master’s in Gastroenterology (Basic Science) by the American Gastroenterology Association, the Excellence in Research Award (Canadian Association of Gastroenterology), the Crohn’s Colitis Canada-Pfeizer Women in IBD: Outstanding Research Achievement Award and the American Gastroenterology Association Institute Council Basic & Clinical Intestinal Disorders Section Research Mentor Award.
David Good
David Good, a PhD candidate in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Guelph, is researching the gut microbiome of the Yanomami, an Amazonian Indigenous people residing in southeastern Venezuela and northwestern Brazil. This unique research sheds light on the health and lifestyle of a community that maintains a traditional lifestyle of hunting, gathering, and simple horticulture.
Driven by his familial connection with the Yanomami people, Good founded the Yanomami Foundation in 2011. This non-profit organization is committed to empowering Yanomami communities with the necessary tools, resources, and intercultural training to protect their unique way of life and conserve their Amazonian homeland. The foundation’s efforts are instrumental in ensuring the sustainability and preservation of the Yanomami culture and environment.
Good’s dedication to the Yanomami cause extends beyond his research and non-profit work. As a member of the prestigious Explorer’s Club, he plays a pivotal role in organizing expeditions to Yanomami communities. These expeditions are not only a testament to his leadership but also serve to support crucial programs in health, biocultural research, education, and cultural preservation. In recognition of his remarkable work to promote science and exploration, Good was honoured as an Explorer’s Club 50 awardee in 2023.
Good recently published an autobiographical graphic novel entitled Good: From the Amazon Jungle to Suburbia and Back.