Lisa Osborne, PhD
Dr. Lisa Osborne has a long-standing interest in host-pathogen interactions and how the regulation of inflammation and immunity intersect. After completing her PhD (Ninan Abraham, UBC 2010), she pursued post-doctoral research with David Artis at the University of Pennsylvania where she received fellowship support from the Cancer Research Institute as an Edmond J Safra scholar. In 2015, she joined the Microbiology & Immunology department at UBC as the Canada Research Chair in Host-Microbiome Interactions. Her team takes advantage of germ-free and gnotobiotic mouse models to interrogate how specific perturbations to the intestinal ecosystem influence host-protective antiviral immunity and pathogenic autoimmune responses, particularly in the context of multiple sclerosis. The dynamic changes in the intestinal microbiome throughout the lifespan spurred her interest in understanding whether these age-associated changes play a causal role in increased susceptibility to neurodegenerative conditions. Her goal is to understand how specific microbes (including multicellular helminthic worms), microbial communities, and the metabolites they produce, interact with the host immune system to identify levers that can optimize host health and immunity.
Email: losborne@mail.ubc.ca