Bringing ideas to life: from glowing gut bacteria to improving equity in the lab

Juan Camilo Burckhardt (he/him) is a graduate student in Microbiology and Immunology. Having created a novel framework to approach microbiota engineering, his work was accepted for publication in Cell.

The idea was to take commensal gut bacteria and determine more possibilties of leveraging their benefits. Juan’s curiosity first sparked during his undergraduate studies which he also completed at UBC, making his work as a graduate student extra special, finally being able to materialize ideas he had for years.

Juan explains, “The bacteria that live within your gut are the ones that know it the best. They are good at knowing the environment they live on and knowing when things change. When things change, they need to adapt and respond to those changes. We took those responses from a specific organism and created a genetic circuit.”

The mentioned genetic circuit was the work accepted for publication in Cell. Juan explains it as the bacteria emanating “a fluorescent glow and when it reaches conditions that might be telling of diseases in the gut, it will dim its fluorescence glow as a proxy to the deceased state. The bacterium was able to detect changes that are happening inside the gut even before clinical symptoms happen. That was a very impactful thing. We want to see diseases in the gut as early as possible, with poor symptoms, and this could probably aid us in creating treatments for it.”

In addition to his research, Juan is a graduate student leader amongst graduate students. For instance, in collaboration with the department and another graduate student, Juan identified that graduate students with disabilities may not have access to medical devices that would strongly benefit their time at UBC.

He explains, “We applied for a stEAR fund from UBC and are opening up discussion groups, bringing experts in the field, to hopefully start a discussion with the department. How can we use UBC resources to help these students so that their disability is not going to be something that puts them at a disadvantage to other students?”

Juan has also identified pay disparities, pushed for a more cohesive student body, and promoted the role of Teaching Assistant as more than just a professional development opportunity but also an opportunity that develops the student.

“My dream is to come back and open up a lab here at UBC,” Juan shares. “If you really love a place, it shows by trying to make it better.”

Outside of his research and academics, Juan is the drummer in a band within the department which includes other graduate students and professors. They’ve played in faculty events! He also shares his Columbian background with the lab, sharing music and food.

“I have not only lived the graduate student experience, but also the international student experience,” Juan reflects. “This university really highlights diversity and I have always appreciated that.”