About: Mission

There is a complex array of molecules released during upper intestinal enzymatic digestion and colonic microbial metabolism of foods, health promoting supplements and harmful food contaminants. These molecules derived after digestion generally differ greatly in their structure, bioavailability and bioactivity from the original food components and are largely responsible for the health benefits or risks to the host. 

Our lab’s overarching aim is characterizing the bioactives that appear during digestive processes and identify the molecules that are absorbed to affect host metabolic activities. We are particularly focused on inflammation and oxidative stress that play key roles in the development of a wide variety of metabolic disorders. 

To identify the bioactives after digestion, we utilize a variety of methodological innovations including our proprietary benchtop computer-controlled gut digestion model. Several important results have been generated using this model, including identification of anti-cancer microbial metabolites from anthocyanin-rich sweet potato and potato cultivars. This highly innovative platform has attracted national and international attention for the setup of this system in biomedical and nutritional research laboratories (Queensland U, U Eastern Finland). 

Our ongoing research uses the gut digestion model in combination with intestinal and hepatic cell culture models as well as other cell culture systems to identify health promoting post-absorptive bioactives using meta‐omics including metabolomics and proteomics. This work is currently focused on the promising benefits of supplements (polyphenols, probiotics, collagen hydrolysates) towards osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and autism spectrum disorder. These studies are also complemented with experimentation using advanced animal models. We are developing an integrative analysis of multi-“omic” molecular profiling to gain a mechanistic understanding of the cellular and functional characterizations that will provide a ground foundation to support clinical intervention trials. 

Exposure to such xenobiotics (i.e., foreign chemicals not occurring naturally in the environment of living organisms) can lead to diminished abundance and diversity of the gut microbiome. Such microbiome disturbances are associated with disorders and diseases in the host. A major direction of our research is to study how the human microbiome is harmed by exposure to deleterious food and water components (polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), nanoparticles used as food additives and packaging, antibiotic resistance gene transfer agents). We are identifying key microbiome biomarkers triggered by such exposures that can be associated with pathophysiological outcomes. An exciting research direction is that we are identifying probiotics, prebiotics and polyphenols that can protect against and rescue against the harm caused by xenobiotics to the human gut microbiome.

Collaborations

Universities and Research Institutions 

  • Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique

  • Johannes Kepler University Linz

  • Kuwait University 

  • Laval University

  • McGill Genome Centre

  • Université du Quebec à Montréal

  • University of Alberta

  • University of Eastern Finland

  • University of Hong Kong

  • University of Queensland

Collaborating Researchers

  • Associate Professor
    Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Bio-inspired Hierarchical Multifunctional Metamaterials
    Department of Bioresource Engineering
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

    Associate Member
    Department of Mechanical Engineering
    Member of McGill Institute of Advanced Materials (MIAM)
    McGill University
    Email

  • Associate Professor
    Health Management
    Higher Education College of Health Sciences
    Education Centre of Australia
    Academic Promotion Committee
    ECA Academic Board
    CHS Course Advisory Committee

  • Professor
    Department of Medicine
    Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods
    Research Center of the University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec
    Nutrition, Health and Society (NUTRISS)
    Research Center of the CHU of Quebec – Laval University
    IUCPQ Research Center
    Email

  • Associate Professor
    Canada Research Chair in Therapeutic Chemistry
    Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics
    Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
    McGill University
    Website

  • Assistant Professor
    Director of Perioperative Medical Research
    Peri Operative Program
    McGill University Health Center
    Associate Member in Surgery and Anesthesia
    School of Human Nutrition
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    McGill University
    Email

  • Assistant Professor
    Department of Microbiology & Immunology
    McGill University
    Email

  • Associate Professor
    Department of Food Science and Nutrition
    College of Life Sciences
    Kuwait University
    ORCID

  • Assistant Professor
    Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Centre
    Department of Physiology
    Email

  • Associate Professor
    Department of Civil Engineering
    Faculty of Engineering
    McGill University
    Email

  • Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics
    Department of Human Genetics
    McGill University

  • Professor
    Principal Lecturer
    School of Biological Sciences
    Faculty of Science
    University of Hong Kong
    Email

    Professor
    Gut Health and Food Safety Research Laboratory (GHFS)
    Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences
    University of Eastern Finland
    Email

  • Professor
    Fonds de Recherche du Québec Scholar
    Director of McGill Centre for Microbiome Research
    Department of Immunology
    MUHC Research Institute
    McGill University
    Email

  • Head of the Rare Disease Research Team (AG Tauer)
    Johannes Kepler University Linz
    Website

  • Professor
    Genetics and Neurodegenerative Diseases
    Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique
    Email

  • Associate Professor
    School of Human Nutrition
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    McGill University
    Email

  • Professor
    Department of Chemistry
    Université du Québec à Montréal
    Email

  • Professor
    School of Human Nutrition
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    McGill University
    Email

  • Professor
    Nutrition Science/Food and Health
    Department of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition
    Faculty of Medicine
    Faculty of Health Sciences
    Email

  • James McGill Professor
    Department of Bioresource Engineering
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    McGill University
    Email

  • Professor
    Department of Food Science and Nutrition
    College of Life Sciences
    Kuwait University

  • Research Scientist, Health Canada
    Email

  • Associate Professor
    Director of School of Human Nutrition
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    McGill University
    Email

  • Professor
    Chair, ENG Biomedical Engineering
    University of Alberta
    Email

  • Acting Dean
    James McGill Professor
    Department of Bioresource Engineering
    Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    McGill University
    Email

  • Professor
    Centre Director, Nutrition & Food Science
    Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
    Centre Director of Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences
    Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences
    University of Queensland
    Email

Government Institutions

  • Health Canada

Companies