Published December 2, 2024
Taylored Biotherapeutics, founded by UCalgary’s Dr. Valerie Taylor, MD, PhD, and supported by Chief Operating Officer Asem Bala, has achieved a significant milestone by securing a $100,000 grant from the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI).
This award, part of OBI’s highly competitive Neurotech Entrepreneurship to Validate Emerging Innovations (NERVE) program, will support Taylored Biotherapeutics’ pioneering work in psychobiotic therapies — mental health treatments that leverage the gut-brain connection to address chronic mental health issues.
A surprising path to psychobiotics
Taylor, a psychiatrist and professor at the Cumming School of Medicine, discovered an unexpected link between gut health and mental health while treating patients with mood disorders. Two of her patients, long unresponsive to traditional treatments and experiencing drug side-effects, experienced significant remission in their symptoms after taking antibiotics for unrelated infections. Intrigued, Taylor began investigating whether changes in the gut microbiome could influence mood.
Her subsequent research into the gut-brain axis — a system connecting gut health to mental wellness — revealed promising findings. Early clinical trials using fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), often referred to as poop pills, produced surprisingly positive results, indicating that targeting the gut microbiome could effectively alleviate symptoms of mood disorders.
“We thought it was going to be an interesting scientific endeavour, helping us better understand the role bacteria play in the gut microbiome in individuals with mental illness,”
says Taylor.
“Instead, we found that this was a viable and effective way to treat mental illness, leading us to consider ways to leverage it to assist patients.”
