The Dialogue on Aging Public Presentation Series is hosted by the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging and Providence Health Care. On March 19th, 2025, we have the pleasure of hosting a virtual session with Dr. Brett Finlay, Professor from the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia!
Title: Healthy Living and Aging with Our Microbes
Summary: The microbiome has a profound influence on human health and disease, including aging processes. We will discuss what the microbiome is, and its various roles in human health and disease. Its many roles in aging will be discussed, including many proactive things one can do to impact both the microbiome and healthy aging.
Speaker Biography: Dr. B. Brett Finlay is a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia. He obtained a B.Sc. (Honors) in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, and Ph.D. (1986). His post-doctoral studies were performed at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1989, he joined UBC. Dr. Finlay’s research interests are focused on host-microbe interactions, at the molecular level. He has published over 575 papers (h index=155). He has won several prestigious awards, including five Howard Hughes International Research Scholar Awards, a CIHR Distinguished Investigator, the Michael Smith Health Research Prize, the Canadian Killam Health Sciences Prize, the Flavelle Medal of the Royal Society, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Prix Galien, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences, and the European Union Academy of Sciences. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia, and inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. He is a cofounder of Inimex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Microbiome Insights, scientific co-founder of Vedanta Pharmaceuticals and CommenSe, Director of the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative, and Founding Director and Senior Fellow of CIFAR’s Microbes and Humans. He is also the co-author of the books Let Them Eat Dirt and The Whole Body Microbiome.
Please register here for the lecture.
