Crystal Johnson– MSCA Fellow
Dr Crystal Johnson received her Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of Oklahoma in the United States. She then earned her PhD in Dr. Paul Lawson’s Microbial Systematics laboratory from the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Research in Anaerobic Processes, specialising in Anoxic Biocorrosion of industrial infrastructure with funding from energy partners and the US Department of Agriculture. Her doctoral thesis focused on the characterisation of novel bacteria recovered from expeditions on the North Slope of Alaska and their contributions to Microbially Influenced Corrosion. In 2015, Crystal moved to Ireland in order to join Prof. Catherine Stanton’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow at the Teagasc Food Research Centre in Moorepark, carrying out Faecal Transplantation studies. She was then awarded the Marie Skłodowska Curie Independent Fellowship in 2016 to develop clinical models of the Gallbladder Microbiome and expand the anaerobic capacity of microbiome research therein.
Project Title: GallBiome: Characterization of the Human Gallbladder Microbiome
PI: Professor Catherine Stanton
Year of Award: 2016
Description of the project: More than one million cholecystectomies (gallbladder removal surgeries) are performed throughout Europe each year, yet the bacterial communities associated with the human gallbladder and its disease states remain unknown. Furthermore, studies are lacking that characterize the effects of cholecystectomies on the gut microbiome. Without the ability to regulate bile entering the duodenum during food intake, it is expected that gallbladder removal will lead to downstream changes in the intestinal population. The microbial composition of human bile, gallbladder mucosa, and biopsies of surgically removed healthy gallbladders (adherent and non-adherent microbiota) are being investigated. These profiles are compared to samples of a second cohort undergoing emergency cholecystectomies, in order to identify possible biomarkers for gallbladder disease. Once the gallbladder microbiome has been revealed, the impact of its removal on the gut microbiome will be assessed using molecular and cultivation based techniques, where stool samples collected throughout the recovery period will be analyzed. GallBiome will form the basis for establishing relationships between gallbladder microbiota, gut microbiota, and human health with a view to informing future development of diagnostics and therapeutics. Ultimately, characterization of the core gallbladder microbiome has important biological and medical implications with potential to lower the risk and incidence of cholelithiasis.
E-mail: Crystal.Johnson@teagasc.ie