Lauren is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at UVic. She completed her Ph.D. training with Drs. Song Lee and Scott Halperin at Dalhousie University, and her post-doctoral training with Raphael Valdivia at Duke University. Her research focuses on the genetic analysis of the beneficial intestinal bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila; microbe-microbe interactions; factors influencing colonization and host health.