Deanna L. Gibson
The University of British Columbia, Canada
Title: Novel Microbiome-based therapy for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Biography
Biography: Deanna L. Gibson
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a major global health and economic burden, and the rapid surge in pediatric cases in Canada over the past decade is raising alarm bells. Current pharmaceutical therapies are often ineffective for long-term use and are associated with severe side effects. Therefore, new alternative therapies for IBD are urgently needed. Probiotic therapy is widely believed considered a potential treatment option. However, clinical trials using probiotics for IBD treatment have had inconsistent results, and improving conventional probiotics specifically for IBD treatment is needed. In IBD patients, the gut environment is unique, for example, it is highly inflamed; these properties may interfere with the growth, and therefore beneficial effects of probiotics. As such, current probiotics are most likely inefficient for IBD patients. A novel approach is to engineer designer probiotics that strategically target these limitations in IBD patients through techniques such as genetic engineering. We bioengineered BioPersist and BioColoniz, two patented designer probiotics (DP), specifically to treat IBD by improving colonization, and persistence, to enhance the efficacy and longevity of the beneficial effects of probiotics. We have generated strong preliminary data supporting the efficacy of DP in preclinical studies in reducing both primary outcomes of IBD, as well as associated comorbidities, including metabolic dysfunction and neuropsychiatric conditions.