Kathy McCoy

Dr. McCoy obtained her PhD in Immunology from the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Otago University, Wellington, New Zealand. She performed her postdoctoral studies and was a junior group leader at the Institute of Experimental Immunology in Zürich, Switzerland. She held her first faculty position as Asst. Professor positions at McMaster University, Canada (2006-2010) and subsequently relocated to the University of Bern, Switzerland (2010-2016). Since 2016 Dr. Kathy McCoy is a Full Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, a member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, and the Scientific Director of the International Microbiome Center at the University of Calgary, Canada. Her research group uses germ-free and gnotobiotic models to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which the microbiome regulates host immunity and physiology. She is particularly interested in the dynamic interplay between the gut microbiota and the innate and adaptive immune systems. Her research aims to understand how exposure to intestinal microbes, particularly during early life, educates and regulates the mucosal, systemic and neuronal immune systems and how this can affect susceptibility to diseases, such as allergy, autoimmunity, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Her lab also investigates how the microbiome regulates the immune system throughout life with the aim to identify microbial therapies that can be employed to enhance current therapeutic approaches, such as in cancer.

• University of Calgary
• Cumming School of Medicine
• Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases
• Calgary, Alberta, Canada