Healthy Microbiomes in a Changing World
How can our healthy, interconnected microbiomes be managed in a changing world?
Microbial communities are integral to the health of people, societies and environments. This program brings together anthropologists, biologists and other scholars to understand the features of healthy microbiomes – interconnected microbial networks and the proposed sensory modality of "microbioception" – to develop new approaches for repairing microbial systems that influence individual, societal and environmental health
IMPACT CLUSTERS
The Healthy Microbiomes in a Changing World program is part of the following CIFAR Impact Clusters: Nurturing a Resilient Earth and Shaping the Future of Human Health. CIFAR’s research programs are organized into 5 distinct Impact Clusters that address significant global issues and are committed to fostering an environment in which breakthroughs emerge.
RESEARCH AND SOCIETAL IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS
DEFINING MICROBIAL RIGHTS
Led by CIFAR program Fellow Louis-Patrick Haraoui (Université de Sherbrooke), a group of HMB members and legal scholars co-authored "Microbial rights for a planetary age," in Earth System Governance 28: 100331. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2026.100331. In this piece, they explore the legal claims for microbes to have rights as well as the legal claims for humans to have rights to access healthy microbes.
UNDERSTANDING MILK MICROBIOME VARIATION IN BREASTMILK
Through a CIFAR Catalyst Fund project, Fellows Meghan Azad (University of Manitoba, Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba) and Naama Geva-Zatorsky (Technion - Israel University of Technology) are discovering how indoor and outdoor environmental factors affect the composition of the milk microbiome. The outcomes of this project could have far-reaching implications on the habits and recommended behaviour of families, especially before delivery, and during the first months of infants’ lives, as mothers’ milk affects their infants’ gut.
Path to Societal Impact
We invite experts in industry, civil society, healthcare and government to join fellows in our Healthy Microbiomes in a Changing World program for in-depth, cross-sectoral conversations that drive change and innovation.
Leaders from public health schools and CIFAR fellows in the Healthy Microbiomes in a Changing World program are working together to develop new public health curricula.
Areas of focus:
- Integrating emerging evidence from microbiome research into health systems
- Developing microbiome-based public health curriculum materials that enhance public health messages
Founded
2014, 2026
Renewal Dates
2020
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Microbiology
Developmental, evolutionary and stem cell biology
Bacteriology
Immunology
Anthropology
Biochemistry
Public Health
History
Neuroscience
Philosophy
CIFAR Contact
Fellows & Advisors
Program Directors
Karen Guillemin
Program Co-Director
Jamie Lorimer
Program Co-Director
Fellows
Katherine R. Amato
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Meghan Azad
Fellow
Thomas Bosch
Fellow
Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello
Fellow
Eran Elinav
Fellow
B. Brett Finlay
Fellow
Naama Geva-Zatorsky
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Louis-Patrick Haraoui
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023
Frédéric Keck
Fellow
Melissa Melby
Fellow
Carolina Tropini
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Alan Bernstein Fellow
Advisors
Martin Blaser
Advisory Committee Co-Chair
Kate Brown
Advisory Committee Co-Chair
CIFAR Global Scholars
Katherine R. Amato
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Hiutung Chu
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Naama Geva-Zatorsky
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Louis-Patrick Haraoui
Fellow
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023
Elizabeth Johnson
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023
Jean-Philippe Julien
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Tal Korem
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Alexander Kwarteng
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2017-2019
Corinne Maurice
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2016-2018
Jessica L. Metcalf
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2018-2020
Carolina Tropini
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Alan Bernstein Fellow
Eduardo A. Undurraga
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars 2021-2023
Jennifer Zenker
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
Wei Zhang
CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar 2019-2021
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