Biography:

 

Dr. Genelle Lunken is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is also a registered dietitian and the translational research lead at the IBD Centre of BC (https://ibdcentrebc.ca/lunkenlab/). She has over ten years of dietetic experience specializing in the care of patients with surgical and gastrointestinal conditions.
Dr. Lunken completed her doctoral studies in Nutritional Science at Massey University in New Zealand, where her research primarily focused on investigating the impact of habitual dietary fibre intake on the response of gut microbiota to a prebiotic (fibre) intervention. In 2017, she relocated to Vancouver, Canada, to begin a postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Drs. Bruce Vallance and Kevan Jacobson at UBC. During this time, her research interests expanded to explore the interplay between fibre, gut microbiota, and inflammation using mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In 2023, Dr. Lunken established her own research laboratory at UBC. Her lab focuses on expanding our understanding of host-immune-microbe interactions, with a particular emphasis on identifying host (e.g., diet) and microbial factors that contribute to variable responses to medical and dietary therapies in IBD patients. A significant component of her research aims to explore the role of fungi in IBD, including how fungal communities influence response to therapy, their spatial location in the gut, and how dietary factors modulate fungal populations. To investigate the mechanistic interactions between bacteria, fungi, and diet – and to better understand inter-individual responses to dietary interventions – she has established an in vitro fermentation system (mini bioreactor array) in her lab. Through this work, she aims to uncover the microbial and nutritional drivers of individualized treatment responses, ultimately advancing precision-based therapeutic strategies to improve outcomes for individuals living with IBD across all life stages.