Our Research

What we do and why we do it

Our Centre has evolved over the past nine years, as has the field of probiotics. We must ask "real-world" scientific questions and translate our findings into something that will some day benefit people.  We are open to collaboration, and through the years it has been the skill-set of such scientists and physicians that has allowed us to expand our investigative threads.  At any given time, we have projects going on in several countries. Right now, this includes Tanzania, Kenya, The Netherlands, and the USA.

We have a relatively small core group at St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, with excellent microbiology, immunology and biochemistry students, high school students and post-doctoral fellows.  All are encouraged to contribute ideas to their projects, learn how to discuss and present data and link their work to human well-being and their own career path.

Since our inception, we have worked with industrial partners. In the end, industry is needed to translate bench science into practice. We have an outstanding partnership with Danone following their $7 million donation to create a Research Chair in Human Microbiology and Probiotics. But, we retain our independence as scientists and do projects on a one-to-one basis with Danone and other industrial partners, as well as through traditional funding agencies.  The support of donors, especially the W. Garfield Weston Foundation who helped create a Research Chair in Urological Sciences with affiliation to our Probiotics group, makes a huge difference to what we are able to achieve. In the end, it is collective spirit that moves us forward.

Our research can be broken down into three big questions:

1. Female Health: Can we manipulate the microbes inside us to improve the chance of conception, better ensure a healthy pregnancy and improve human longevity? This emphasis on female health dates back almost 30 years with our studies on using lactobacilli to prevent urinary and vaginal infections. The advent of new technologies and a renewed interest from funding agencies to finally take these issues seriously, has spurred our research.

2. Affordable Probiotic Foods: Can we create affordable probiotic food to improve well-being and reduce ‘toxins’ in the general population and people in the developing world? The outstanding work of our Western Heads East students in Eastern Africa setting up probiotic yogurt kitchens, epitomizes our belief that small changes can lead to great things. On a global scale, impacting 350 people in a community with one kitchen, seems infinitesimal, but we view it as one life at a time. We are fortunate to gain access to the amazing Danone Communities project which also aims to bring affordable nutrition to people living at the bottom of the pyramid. Thus, we provide input into projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia and South Africa. Of course, affordability is not a concept exclusive to the developing world, and so we strive to have companies develop healthy foods for people in Canada and other countries who are living on the edge of  poverty.
   
   
3. How do these bacteria work? As the area of probiotics has exploded in recent times, so too has the need to understand scientifically how these organisms function, and also to prove in appropriately designed clinical trials what types of benefits they deliver. We are using genetic and bioinformatics tools to find out which organisms are present during health, disease, post-treatment and over time. We are investigating how these bacteria function in their environment and in foods, and what benefits they accrue to the host, including blocking pathogens, modulating immunity, and breaking down or inhibiting toxic reactions.