Undergraduate researcher Mia Poirier was awarded research funding from the UMaine Center for Undergraduate Research, funded by the UMaine Institute of Medicine!! Mia is a senior in the Biology program at UMaine, with a pre-med concentration, and is a student athlete on the swim team.

She’s been in the Ishaq lab for over a year working on several projects related to broccoli sprouts and microbial communities in the gut. This award will support Mia’s time in the lab while she develops hands-on and research skills, and help her on her path to medical school after graduation. The award will also enable the lab to run a pilot (small) experiment to test the strategy of providing a probiotic to mice to reduce gut inflammation through microbial bioactive compounds.

“Identifying a Probiotic That Maximizes The Conversion of Glucoraphanin In Vivo To Sulforaphane Found In Broccoli Sprouts”

Abstract: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) incidence has grown in recent decades and encompasses a broad spectrum of chronic inflammatory disorders. Though there is no definitive cure, there are quantitative and qualitative aspects of IBDs that can be targeted to reduce inflammatory effects, such as genetic factors, epithelial histology, cytokines, and the gut microbiome. Glucosinolates (GLs) found in cruciferous vegetables can be converted into Glucoraphanin (GLR), which can subsequently be converted into sulforaphane (SFN) by plant enzymes. SFN has been shown to contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in animals; however, animals contain the enzyme required for the conversion of GLR to SFN. It has been demonstrated that mammalian gut microbiota can also convert GLR into SFN available to the host. This is highly variable, and some people exhibit no microbial conversion. This study aims to identify a bacterial strain that can act as a probiotic converting GLR to SFN in vivo in salt-treated Ulcerative Colitis-imitating mice.

Events will be hosted January – December, 2025, usually on the last Wednesday of every month, 12:00 – 14:00 pm ET. Presented over Zoom.

After each talk, we will continue the discussions in an informal social meeting with MSE. All speakers and members of the audience are welcome to join the social meeting.

Hosted by: Sue Ishaq, MSE, and finacially supported by the University of Maine Institute of Medicine and the UMaine Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Committee.

Summary: 

Microorganisms are critical to many aspects of biological life, including human health.  The human body is a veritable universe for microorganisms: some pass through but once, some are frequent tourists, and some spend their entire existence in the confines of our body tissues.  The collective microbial community, our microbiome, can be impacted by the details of our lifestyle, including diet, hygiene, health status, and more, but many are driven by social, economic, medical, or political constraints that restrict available choices that may impact our health.   Access to resources is the basis for creating and resolving social equity—access to healthcare, healthy foods, a suitable living environment, and to beneficial microorganisms, but also access to personal and occupational protection to avoid exposure to infectious disease. This speaker series explores the way that microbes connect public policy, social disparities, and human health, as well as the ongoing research, education, policy, and innovation in this field. 

You can find recordings from previous series here.

“Industrialization drives convergent microbial and physiological shifts in the human metaorganism”

Dr. Mathieu Groussin, PhD

Nov 19, 2025 12:00 ET. This event has passed, watch the recording here.

I am an Associate Professor at Kiel University and the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, since 2022. My research aims to advance knowledge, develop new theory, and create tools to investigate the ecology, evolution and functions of diverse human-associated microbes. I am particularly dedicated to identifying actionable features in host-associated microbiomes that can be used to improve human health. Recently, I focused on the building of large collections of human gut microbiomes and bacterial strains from worldwide human populations to study the impact of industrialization on gut bacterial genomes and functions. In 2016, I co-founded the non-profit Global Microbiome Conservancy (GMbC) initiative, an international consortium of 80+ collaborators (microbiomeconservancy.org). The mission of the GMbC is to understand the global diversity of human gut bacteria to create new knowledge on the microbiome through ethical practices, promote capacity building activities, and increase representation in microbiome science. Since its inception, I have been leading the GMbC consortium and its scientific program.

His lab group’s website is here.

Logo designed by Alex Guillen

Events will be hosted January – December, 2025, usually on the last Wednesday of every month, 12:00 – 14:00 pm ET. Presented over Zoom.

After each talk, we will continue the discussions in an informal social meeting with MSE. All speakers and members of the audience are welcome to join the social meeting.

Hosted by: Sue Ishaq, MSE, and finacially supported by the University of Maine Institute of Medicine and the UMaine Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Committee.

Summary: 

Microorganisms are critical to many aspects of biological life, including human health.  The human body is a veritable universe for microorganisms: some pass through but once, some are frequent tourists, and some spend their entire existence in the confines of our body tissues.  The collective microbial community, our microbiome, can be impacted by the details of our lifestyle, including diet, hygiene, health status, and more, but many are driven by social, economic, medical, or political constraints that restrict available choices that may impact our health.   Access to resources is the basis for creating and resolving social equity—access to healthcare, healthy foods, a suitable living environment, and to beneficial microorganisms, but also access to personal and occupational protection to avoid exposure to infectious disease. This speaker series explores the way that microbes connect public policy, social disparities, and human health, as well as the ongoing research, education, policy, and innovation in this field. 

You can find recordings from previous series here.

“Industrialization drives convergent microbial and physiological shifts in the human metaorganism”

Dr. Mathieu Groussin, PhD

Nov 19, 2025 12:00 ET. This event has passed, watch the recording here.

I am an Associate Professor at Kiel University and the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, since 2022. My research aims to advance knowledge, develop new theory, and create tools to investigate the ecology, evolution and functions of diverse human-associated microbes. I am particularly dedicated to identifying actionable features in host-associated microbiomes that can be used to improve human health. Recently, I focused on the building of large collections of human gut microbiomes and bacterial strains from worldwide human populations to study the impact of industrialization on gut bacterial genomes and functions. In 2016, I co-founded the non-profit Global Microbiome Conservancy (GMbC) initiative, an international consortium of 80+ collaborators (microbiomeconservancy.org). The mission of the GMbC is to understand the global diversity of human gut bacteria to create new knowledge on the microbiome through ethical practices, promote capacity building activities, and increase representation in microbiome science. Since its inception, I have been leading the GMbC consortium and its scientific program.

His lab group’s website is here.

Logo designed by Alex Guillen

Events will be hosted January – December, 2025, usually on the last Wednesday of every month, 12:00 – 14:00 pm ET. Presented over Zoom.

After each talk, we will continue the discussions in an informal social meeting with MSE. All speakers and members of the audience are welcome to join the social meeting.

Hosted by: Sue Ishaq, MSE, and finacially supported by the University of Maine Institute of Medicine and the UMaine Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Committee.

Summary: 

Microorganisms are critical to many aspects of biological life, including human health.  The human body is a veritable universe for microorganisms: some pass through but once, some are frequent tourists, and some spend their entire existence in the confines of our body tissues.  The collective microbial community, our microbiome, can be impacted by the details of our lifestyle, including diet, hygiene, health status, and more, but many are driven by social, economic, medical, or political constraints that restrict available choices that may impact our health.   Access to resources is the basis for creating and resolving social equity—access to healthcare, healthy foods, a suitable living environment, and to beneficial microorganisms, but also access to personal and occupational protection to avoid exposure to infectious disease. This speaker series explores the way that microbes connect public policy, social disparities, and human health, as well as the ongoing research, education, policy, and innovation in this field. 

You can find recordings from previous series here.

“The journey of one Inupiat through academia: Diversity Matters“

Dr. Kat Milligan-McLellan, PhD

Oct 29, 2025 12:00 EDT. This event has passed, watch the recording here.

Dr. Kat Milligan-McClellan is Inupiaq and a runner, mother, and microbiologist, not necessarily in that order. Raised in a remote town above the Arctic Circle, she uses her education and skillsets to study topics that are important to her home community. She studies population variation in gut microbiota communities, including which microbe are in the gut, how they interact with the host and with each other, and whether microbes isolated from healthy Alaskan fish can reverse the effects of contaminants found in Alaska waters. In addition to mentoring over 60 people in her lab, she mentors Alaska Native students who will use their education to preserve lands, water, and ways of life in Northwest Alaska through the Caleb Scholars program. She is also Director of the Stickleback Stock Center, which provides stickleback fish to researchers throughout the United States. Her most memorable honor is being blanketed by the Native community at a University of Oregon powwow. Her lab website is here.

Logo designed by Alex Guillen

Events will be hosted January – December, 2025, usually on the last Wednesday of every month, 12:00 – 14:00 pm ET. Presented over Zoom.

After each talk, we will continue the discussions in an informal social meeting with MSE. All speakers and members of the audience are welcome to join the social meeting.

Hosted by: Sue Ishaq, MSE, and finacially supported by the University of Maine Institute of Medicine and the UMaine Cultural Affairs/Distinguished Lecture Committee.

Summary: 

Microorganisms are critical to many aspects of biological life, including human health.  The human body is a veritable universe for microorganisms: some pass through but once, some are frequent tourists, and some spend their entire existence in the confines of our body tissues.  The collective microbial community, our microbiome, can be impacted by the details of our lifestyle, including diet, hygiene, health status, and more, but many are driven by social, economic, medical, or political constraints that restrict available choices that may impact our health.   Access to resources is the basis for creating and resolving social equity—access to healthcare, healthy foods, a suitable living environment, and to beneficial microorganisms, but also access to personal and occupational protection to avoid exposure to infectious disease. This speaker series explores the way that microbes connect public policy, social disparities, and human health, as well as the ongoing research, education, policy, and innovation in this field. 

You can find recordings from previous series here.

“The journey of one Inupiat through academia: Diversity Matters“

Dr. Kat Milligan-McLellan, PhD

Oct 29, 2025 12:00 EDT. This event has passed, watch the recording here.

Dr. Kat Milligan-McClellan is Inupiaq and a runner, mother, and microbiologist, not necessarily in that order. Raised in a remote town above the Arctic Circle, she uses her education and skillsets to study topics that are important to her home community. She studies population variation in gut microbiota communities, including which microbe are in the gut, how they interact with the host and with each other, and whether microbes isolated from healthy Alaskan fish can reverse the effects of contaminants found in Alaska waters. In addition to mentoring over 60 people in her lab, she mentors Alaska Native students who will use their education to preserve lands, water, and ways of life in Northwest Alaska through the Caleb Scholars program. She is also Director of the Stickleback Stock Center, which provides stickleback fish to researchers throughout the United States. Her most memorable honor is being blanketed by the Native community at a University of Oregon powwow. Her lab website is here.

Logo designed by Alex Guillen