Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Gut bacteria play an important role in the maturation of the immune system in babies. Abnormal changes to gut bacteria in babies are likely to lead to the development of childhood obesity and allergies. Recent studies provide evidence that babies who grow up in homes with a pet are less likely to develop overweight and allergies than children who live pet-free. These findings support the notion that keeping children's environments overly sanitized is not good for their health. So, how do pets protect babies against these diseases? It's not entirely clear, but is likely due to the fact that pet exposure enhances levels of beneficial gut bacteria in babies, subsequently boosting immune maturation. In fact, preliminary results from the SyMBIOTA research program show that pet ownership can enhance bacterial species richness and diversity. However, the consequences of pet-induced changes to bacteria on the immune system maturation in the infant gut and health benefits have not yet been studied. My goal is to systematically investigate how household pets influence infant gut bacteria, metabolites they produce and gut immune maturation, as well as whether those influences can reduce childhood allergies and obesity. This study will employ SyMBIOTA and the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) birth cohort study as a research platform. My proposed research aims to provide evidence for this "microbiome hypothesis", with the potential to impact clinical guidance.