MSE virtual symposium 2023

The Microbes and Social Equity working group, and The University of Maine Institute of Medicine present a virtual symposium on:

“Living in a Microbial World”

June 5 – 9th, 2023.

Register here! It is free, and required.

Format: virtual meeting, Zoom platform.

Symposium Summary

To understand a microbiome, you must learn about the bustling community of microorganisms and the complex ecosystems they live in, because one cannot exist without the other. So, too, does microbiome research rely on understanding the lives and ecology of humans, because there is no aspect of human life which does not involve microbes in some way. To become better microbiome researchers, we must understand social and environmental contexts which affect humans and, in many cases, prevent them from making choices which result in beneficial microbial exposures.

Meeting dynamics

Each session will feature one hour of short plenary-style talks by experts in the field, including biological scientists, social scientists, practitioners or policy makers, which will be recorded and made available after the symposium.

Each session will feature a 45-minute panel discission with the speakers which will not be recorded.

Finally, each session will feature 60 minutes of discussion in groups led by speakers and MSE group members, and assisted by notetakers, with ~10 participants per breakout room. Participants will be encouraged to collaborative develop skills for creating experimental design, interdisciplinary research or policy writing, creating community-based research, and pedagogy or lesson plans.  The goal is to create draft documents that are meaningful for group participants, which can lead to additional outputs or action.

If you would like to prepare for these conversations ahead of time, links to previous talks can be found in each section below, or you can read the latest articles from MSE members in the mSystems Special Series: Social Equity and Disparities in Microbial Exposure.

Sessions format:

  • 5 min intro to the session and speakers
  • 3 consecutive 20-minute plenary style talks
  • 15 min break
  • 45 min panel discussion with speakers
  • 15 min break 
  • 60 minutes of breakout room discussions

Program

Session 1: Reconsidering ‘One Health’ Through Microbes

Monday, June 5th, 11 am – 2:30 pm EDT. This session has passed, watch the recorded talks.

Microbes and Social Equity concepts are based on the idea that microbes connect individuals, societies, and ecosystems. One Health & the Environment concepts are based on similar ideas of connectivity. This session will explore the connections between MSE and One Health, how microbiome research connects to One Health, and how we can broaden our own research to include other disciplines. The primary goals for this session are 1) to convene researchers in multiple disciplines and envision ways to work together, and 2) to collaboratively generate definitions of One Health & the Environment with respect to microbiomes.

Hosts and organizers:

Dr. Tiff Mak (they/she), PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at DTU. They work at the intersection of Microbial Ecology, Fermentation and Integrated Food Systems, and are interested in community interaction dynamics and relationality, from the scale of the microbial to the planetary.

Dr. Sue Ishaq, PhD, Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science, School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine. Animal microbiomes, diet and gut, microbes and social equity.

Dr. Kieran O'Doherty.

Dr. Kieran O’Doherty, PhD, Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Guelph, where he directs the Discourse, Science, Publics research Group.

Speakers, 11~12:00 EDT:

Rob Beiko, PhD

Dr. Rob Beiko, PhD., is a Professor and Head of the Algorithms and Bioinformatics research cluster in the Faculty of Computer Science at Dalhousie University. His research aims to understand microbial diversity and evolution using machine learning, phylogenetics, time-series algorithms, and visualization techniques. His group is developing software tools and pipelines to comprehensively survey genes and mobile genetic elements in bacterial genomes, and understand how these genomes have been shaped by vertical inheritance, recombination, and lateral gene transfer. He is also a co-founder of Dartmouth Ocean Techonlogies, Inc., a developer of environmental DNA sampling devices.

Marta Scaglioni

Dr. Marta Scaglioni, PhD. is a Cultural Anthropologist and holds a PostDoc position at Cà Foscari University of Venice (Italy) within the frame of the ERC Project HealthXCross. She is interested in how microbiome research operates in the African continent and how microbial data, knowledge, and funding travel across national boundaries and across a Global North/Global South axis.

Dr. Lucilla Barchetta, PhD., is a Cultural Anthropologist and PhD in Urban Studies. She currently works as Postdoctoral Fellow within the ERC project Health X Cross based at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, where she studies One Health epistemologies and open data governance in multidisciplinary data-centric science and collaboration.

Break, ~12:05 – 12:20 EDT

Panel Discussion, 12:20~13:00 EDT:

  • Need for interdisciplinarity and collaboration, with collection and ontological credit
  • Narrative on One Health, and thinking about other definitions of health

Break, 13:00 – 13:15 EDT

Breakout room discussions, 13:15 ~ 14:30 EDT:

  1. Microbes in One Health research
  1. Defining One Health/Conservation
  1. Teaching microbes + One Health

Related to this session, here are recorded talks from previous MSE events:

Session 2: Microbiomes and climate justice

Tuesday, June 6th, 11 am – 2:30 pm EDT. This session has passed, watch the recorded talks.

Social and economic activities have impacted microbes vital to the carbon cycle, while climate change has already begun to alter environmental microbiota. How do these reciprocal anthropogenic effects affect our health? How will such impacts follow our socio-economic fault-lines? This session will explore how we can use these links to inform communities, conservation movements, and policy.

Hosts and organizers:

Dr. Mike Friedman, PhD, MPH. Recently-retired Researcher and Lecturer in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Health.

Dr. Erin Eggleston, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biology, Middlebury College. Molecular microbial ecology, cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, T. gondii detection in shellfish, coral holobiont thermal resilience, environmental microbes and social equity, and microbial community members involved in mercury methylation in St. Lawrence River wetland sediments

Speakers, 11~12:00 EDT:

Arpita Bose

Dr. Arpita Bose, PhD., Associate Professor of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis. Her lab studies microbial metabolisms and their influence on biogeochemical cycling using an interdisciplinary approach. We apply the knowledge we gain to generate new ways of addressing issues such as the energy crisis, climate change, pollution, human health, sustainability and the circular economy.

Dr. Mallory Choudoir, PhD, Assistant Professor & Soil Microbiome Extension Specialist, Department of Plant & Microbial Biology, North Carolina State University. The goal of my research program is to translate microbiome science to sustainable agriculture and to develop microbial-centered solutions to agroecosystem challenges. 

Dr. Sue Ishaq, PhD, Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science, School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine. Animal microbiomes, diet and gut, microbes and social equity.

“Warmer water temperature and epizootic shell disease reduces diversity of bacteria on the shells of American Lobster (Homarus americanus).

Break, ~12:05 – 12:20 EDT

Panel Discussion, 12:20~13:00 EDT:

  • What’s the most pressing issue in your field?
  • Combining microbial ecology with climate models
  • We hear about ‘climate grief’, but what about ‘climate optimism’? What are some success stories?

Break, 13:00 – 13:15 EDT

Breakout room discussions, 13:15 ~ 14:30 EDT:

  1. Marine microbes
  2. Contradiction between research and activism

Related to this session, here are recorded talks from previous MSE events:

Session 3: Integrating food systems through microbes

Wednesday, June 7th, 11 am – 2:30 pm EDT. This event has passed, watch the recorded talks.

Microorganisms tie food systems together, from soil to food processing to gut to waste products, and microbes can be used to create sustainable food production while working with the natural ecosystem. Traditional ecological knowledge, place-based food systems, and food sovereignty endeavors have long known that integrated food systems require a broader definition of “health”. This session will explore how microbiota can be used to sustain and integrate food, communities, and ecosystems.

Hosts and organizers:

Dr. Tiff Mak (they/she), PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at DTU. They work at the intersection of Microbial Ecology, Fermentation and Integrated Food Systems, and are interested in community interaction dynamics and relationality, from the scale of the microbial to the planetary.

Dr. Sue Ishaq, PhD, Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science, School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine. Animal microbiomes, diet and gut, microbes and social equity. Note, Sue helped host a little bit, but Tiff put in 99.999% of the effort in organizing and running the session.

Speakers, 11~12:00 EDT:

Dr. Aviaja Lyberth Hauptmann

Dr. Aviaja Lyberth Hauptmann (she/her/hers) PhD., is an Inuk microbiologist from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). After finishing her PhD in microbial metagenomics at the Technical University of Denmark in 2017 she returned to her birth-town Nuuk, to lead the research project the Greenland Diet Revolution. Her research centers the animal-sourced Indigenous diet of Inuit. The focus of the research is the human and microbial culture of Inuit foods, and how these foods connect our inside to our outside. Dr. Hauptmann is currently an assistant professor at Ilisimatusarfik – the University of Greenland and a part-time assistant professor at The University of Copenhagen.

Kolawole Banwo

Dr. Kolawole Banwo, PhD. is a Lecturer and Researcher in the Food Microbiology, Biotechnology and Safety Unit of the Department of Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where he teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses on food microbiology, safety assessment, quality control and usefulness of food grade microorganisms. He mentors young academics in the area of food safety and quality assurance in his Department and University, and is passionate about food safety and volunteers on food safety education to artisanal fermented food producers and handlers. His current areas of research are exploration of the food microbiome of traditional fermented foods to increase potentials in bioactive components and the production of functional foods and the detoxification of mycotoxin and metabolites profile from traditional fermented foods in Nigeria using lactic acid bacteria and yeasts in collaboration with the Aflasafe Unit of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria. Kolawole is passionate about food safety and volunteers on food safety education to artisanal fermented food producers and handlers. Dr Banwo holds a B.Sc and M.Sc degrees in General Microbiology, while his Ph.D. degree was in Food Microbiology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a recipient of many awards locally and internationally. He was on a brief collaborative research visit in 2019 to the Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, USA. He is a member of several microbiology professional bodies.

Dr. Nina Moeller, PhD, Associate Professor Research, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University. Currently Associate Professor of Political Ecology and People’s Knowledge at Coventry University (UK) and a researcher in Sustainability Transitions at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), she has a mixed academic background in philosophy, sociology and anthropology. Her research interests comprise the dynamics of sustainability transitions, including their unintended socio-ecological effects; diversity of knowledge and value systems; and more-than-human relations. Her interest in plant medicine, fermentation, traditional health and food systems goes beyond research and has been shaped in significant ways through friendships and exchanges with indigenous Amazonians and subsistence farmers across the world. She has worked in Latin America and Europe – as academic as well as consultant to indigenous federations, NGOs and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization

Break, ~12:05 – 12:20 EDT

Panel Discussion, 12:20~13:00 EDT:

  • Indigenous sovereignty on traditional fermented foods we want to research
  • Microbiota Vault Initiative
  • Style of agriculture tied to style of governance

Break, 13:00 – 13:15 EDT

Breakout room discussions, 13:15 ~ 14:30 EDT:

  1. Sovereignty on traditional foods research
  2. Food systems, governance, and sustainability

Related to this session, here are recorded talks from previous MSE events:

Session 4: Elevating human nutrition and microbiome practice

Thursday, June 8th, 11 am – 2:30 pm EDT. Event has passed, watch the recorded talks.

Human nutrition research and practice provides a unique opportunity to provide equitable health and microbiome care, to engage with various communities, and to foster interdisciplinary research and educational programs. Given the complexity and nuance of evidence-based nutrition delivery, the guiding ideas of MSE can provide a conceptual structure. This session will present research and case studies which create a professional development framework, such that attendees can envision and learn to apply the framework to their own project / professional development.

Hosts and organizers:

Dr. Ashley M. Toney, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. Translational/Clinical Nutrition Researcher focused on Latine Health Disparities.

Dr. Patricia Wolf, PhD, RD, Assistant Professor at Purdue University. Microbial Metabolism, Health Disparities Research, Nutrition and Dietetics

Dr. Sue Ishaq, PhD, Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Science, School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine. Animal microbiomes, diet and gut, microbes and social equity.

Speakers, 11~12:00 EDT:

Dr. Babajide Ojo (Jide)

Dr. Babajide Ojo (Jide), PhD. is currently a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Pediatric Gastroenterology department at Stanford University School of Medicine. His PhD research used models of diet-induced obesity to understand how whole foods modulate the gut microbiome to enhance intestinal homeostasis and systemic outcomes. Through his ongoing Postdoctoral training, Jide is working to understand how patient-derived colon organoids may recapitulate the metabolic and epigenetic anomalies in the epithelia of pediatric ulcerative colitis patients. Jide’s long-term research goals seek to understand how nutritional and microbial factors impact the metabolic and regenerative fate of intestinal stem cells.

“Beyond Fiber: Microbial Regulation of Anti-Nutritional Factors in Whole Foods to Benefit Intestinal Physiology”

Dr. Saria Lofton, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing

Dr. Annabel Biruete, PhD, RD, is an Assistant Professor and Registered Dietitian in the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Division of Nephrology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Her broad clinical interest is nutrition in kidney diseases. Annabel’s research aims to study the effects of nutritional and pharmacological therapies for chronic kidney disease on the gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiome. Additionally, Annabel is interested in improving outcomes in the Hispanic/LatinX community living with chronic kidney disease, using language- and culturally-concordant lifestyle interventions.

Break, ~12:05 – 12:20 EDT

Panel Discussion, 12:20~13:00 EDT:

  • Whole food strategy versus targeted interventions
  • Multi-disciplinary approaches are needed. It’s not just about the gut- we need to think about other organs and systems biology, and with collaboration we can maximize animal use and preliminary data
  • Challenges of working with clinical populations, recruiting, keeping people engaged

Break, 13:00 – 13:15 EDT

Breakout room discussions, 13:15 ~ 14:30 EDT:

  1. Going from animal models to humans
  2. Challenges of clinical study
  3. TBD

Related to this session, here are recorded talks from previous MSE events:

Session 5: MSE Member Research Showcase

Friday, June 9th, 11 am – 2:30 pm EDT. This event will not be recorded!

Session hosts and organizers: Emily Wissel, Curtis Tilves

Session Scope: MSE members will be sharing their own work in short presentations to showcase the variety of disciplines of our members’ work. The presentation list will include students and non-researchers, and research on microbiomes, people, ecosystems, and more even if it is not related to microbes and/or social equity.

Abstracts can be found here

Planning committee:

  • Sue Ishaq (Lead Organizer), Ashley Toney, Gwynne Mhuireach, Rachel Gregor, Carla Bonilla, Erica Gardner, Emily Wissel, Kieran O’Doherty, Erin Eggleston, Mike Friedman, McK Mollner, Erica Diaz-Almeyda, Curtis Tilves, Patrick Horve, Leslie Dietz.
  • Organizing administrative support: Cecile Ferguson, UMaine Institute of Medicine 

The Microbes and Social Equity Working Group is grateful to the University of Maine and the UMaine Institute of Medicine for providing financial and material support for this virtual meeting.