Josie Libertucci

Birthplace: Toronto, ON

Undergraduate Institution: York University, Toronto, ON

Graduate School: PhD, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON; MSc, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

About Me: Josie is a proud and loud Canuck, born and raised in the great T-dot. She joined the Young lab as a postdoctoral research fellow January 2017. Before joining the Young lab, she completed her MSc at the University of Calgary where she worked with Dr. Doug Storey. Her thesis project focused on understanding microbe-microbe interactions within the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung. She characterized interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. After realizing that she wanted to understand interactions within and between the entire microbial community, as oppose to select species, she said goodbye to the beautiful Canadian Rockies and hello to the industrial Steeltown of Hamilton, ON. At McMaster University, Josie worked with Dr. Michael Surette where she was introduced to the amazing world of the gut microbiome. Josie investigated alterations of the gut microbiota before and after Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. Now within the Young lab, she is interested in investigating the role of the gut microbiome in relation to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). When Josie isn’t destroying lab equipment working, she enjoys exploring the many cultural differences between Michigan and Canada, trying new recipes, hiking/snowshoeing, and going on adventures with her husband.

Email: josiel@umich.edu

Twitter: Jos_Tucci