Grant: DRA : Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral Program (CGRS D)

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a lifelong condition affecting over 7 million people worldwide with no cure. In Canada, nearly 1% of the population is expected to be diagnosed by 2030, of which 25% are children. Pediatric IBD patients experience more severe symptoms and problems beyond the gut, including changes in hormone levels, mood disorders, and delayed puberty. One explanation for these effects may lie in the gut microbiota - the community of bacteria in the gut. In IBD, the microbiota differs markedly from healthy people. Research suggests that these microbes influence hormone levels by producing, modifying, or breaking down chemical signals, altering the stress response. Our recent work has shown that even without obvious inflammation, mice colonized with IBD microbiotas have higher stress hormone levels, delayed puberty, and reduced reproductive success. These results point toward a powerful but poorly understood connection between gut microbes, stress, and endocrine development. My research aims to uncover not just correlations, but causal links between gut bacteria in IBD and changes in stress hormones . First, I will use mice colonized with gut bacteria from IBD (hIBD) or healthy patients to examine how they affect hormone regulation and stress responses during development. To test causality, I will introduce specific protective microbes into hIBD mice and assess whether they can reverse stress hormone and developmental changes. Secondly, I will engineer a "living sensor" - a probiotic bacterium that detects and reports stress and inflammation signals in real time. This tool will enable quick, non-invasive monitoring of hormone and inflammation shifts, directly linking microbial changes with endocrine outcomes. Ultimately, my research seeks to clarify how stress and the microbiota interact to shape hormone regulation in pediatric IBD, paving the way for microbiota-based tools and therapies that can improve lifelong health for affected children .