The association between the microorganisms that live on and in us - our microbiota - and health outcomes is undisputed. From inflammatory bowel disease and cancer to Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s Disease, our microbiota and its genetic information - the microbiome - not only influences our risk for disease, but can also determine the effectiveness of the drugs we use to treat them.

Microbiomes are all around us: in the water, soil, crops, sediments, plants, and animals. These diverse micro-organisms are essential players of every known ecosystem on Earth, including the human body, where they shape our health and resistance to disease. Characterizing them and understanding their roles in and on the human body is a new frontier in health research. Although scientific and technological advancements have allowed us to catalogue the microbes that constitute our microbiota, now is the time to understand the function of these vast microbial ecosystems and how they can be shaped to improve health and mitigate disease.

Our vision: Be the one stop for everything microbiome related in Montreal.

Welcome to the McGill Centre for Microbiome Research.