Trust Your Gut

Ithaca College's associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Public Health, Kari Brossard Stoos takes a photo op at the University of Guelph in Canada, where she is on a Fulbright. Photo submitted.

Ithaca College's associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Health Sciences and Public Health, Kari Brossard Stoos takes a photo op at the University of Guelph in Canada, where she is on a Fulbright. Photo submitted.

Kari Brossard Stoos works in the lab at IC. Photo Credit: Angel James '23

Brossard Stoos found the listing for this Fulbright research award in 2024. "They were looking for very public -health-focused work that was strictly aligned with the One Health approach, which is exactly what I do with my research in Costa Rica. It was perfect." Her work in Costa Rica studies the intersection of wildlife and human health through the wild mantled howler monkey.

Once she zeroed in on the opportunity, she contacted Travis Steffens, a Guelph-based researcher whose work focuses on studying and protecting vulnerable and endangered lemurs in Madagascar. He has also established Planet Madagascar, a Canadian charity with the mission to "build sustainable forest communities by conserving Madagascar's unique biodiversity while improving the lives of people living in Madagascar and empowering people in Madagascar and elsewhere to contribute to the preservation of Madagascar's wildlife."

Steffens brought in Heather Murphy, a microbiologist at Guelph with 20 years of experience in water-related research to the conversation. She is also a Tier II Canada Research Chair of One Health.
The linchpin in this body of research is One Health approach. The model has been adopted by a quadripartite group of international organizations-the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). Numerous nations, including the U.S. (via the CDC, USDA, and DOI) and, Canada, have adopted the approach.

Each of the researchers -Brossard Stoos, Steffens, and Murphy - do work through a One Health lens and, together, formed a super team of global ambassadorship and action for the work they were set to engage in.

That purpose is to explore the extent of resistance genes in the gut microbiome in people, wildlife, and domestic animals in Madagascar. Simply put, they want to know if we are primed for a new pandemic. The answer lies in poop.

Brossard Stoos is looking at fecal samples from children under five years old, dogs, zebu, lemurs, and chickens.

The idea here is that humans, domestic animals, and wildlife have always lived in close proximity to each other. When there is not the presence of an advanced sanitation system, some human waste can get into the environment where domestic and wild animals graze and defecate. In turn, the animals' waste can also get into the environment where other animals eat and humans harvest or hunt their food.

This creates a circle of shared microbes which is dangerous because human waste can introduce pathogens to wildlife that wildlife have never encountered before. This could make not only the wildlife (some which are already endangered) sick but also put domesticated cattle, dogs, and chickens at risk.

More significantly, if humans bring their infection-resistant microbes to animals -wildlife and domestic alike-those genes are mixing with the animals' natural gut microbiome, mingling with natural bacteria, and creating the potential to evolve resistant bacteria that could cause infection. This could lead to outbreaks and pandemics.

The field of study is called antibiotic resistant infections. The concern is global.

Brossard Stoos with colleagues: Guelph-based researcher Travis Steffens and microbiologist Heather Murphy. Photo submitted.

Brossard Stoos with colleagues: Guelph-based researcher Travis Steffens and microbiologist Heather Murphy. Photo submitted.

The communities of Madagascar are very remote. They are a forest-dwelling people who are not exposed to the elements of urban communities. The nearest health clinic is over 60 miles away. However, there is evidence of bacteria resistance in the biome. If this is happening in such a rural area, then the problem is wider, deeper, and more significant than we thought.

This super team can then take their findings to the community partners of Steffen's Planet Madagascar and launch a plan to mitigate a very real health threat.

After creating a proposal for work with Steffens and Murphy, she received the required letter of invitation from Guelph University and, supported by Ithaca College, she applied for the Fulbright and was selected as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in One Health at the University of Guelph.

For Brossard Stoos, this is an accomplishment of a lifetime. "It had always been a dream of mine to pursue a Fulbright because of its mission to cultivate diplomacy." She continues, "I wanted to work on this globally shared problem (of antibiotic resistance) while learning with other experts through cultural exchange. Fulbright provides the framework and support to build collaborative relationships with people and communities, and build capacity."

Christina Moylan, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance (HSHP), echoes why the experience is so important: "The Fulbright experience fosters partnerships across countries and cultures, enriching the academic experience overall. These international experiences spark new ideas, strengthen local-global connections, and inspire us to be present well beyond campus boundaries."

The Fulbright experience does not end in Canada.

First, the findings of the research need to be processed. If antibiotic resistance is found in the fecal samples, the next step is stewardship by developing interventions to decrease the use of antibiotics in communities. What that looks like depends on what is in the poop. For example, is the contamination coming from humans treating infections in humans, or is it from humans treating infections in their cattle? Those conversations will happen with organizations that are on the ground in the communities where interventions can happen.

Then there is campus. Brossard Stoos says, "I am learning new techniques, learning new skills, using different equipment that I haven't used before, and learning different approaches to doing research from my collaborators. I am going to bring all that back and teach it to my students. That is an exciting piece for me.".

Dean Moylan emphasizes this by saying, "I am thrilled that upon her return, Dr. Brossard Stoos' students will gain access to a more globally informed curriculum-one that prepares them to navigate and lead in an increasingly interconnected world."

Brossard Stoos' sights are on the future. She is thinking big-partnerships, global networks, and interdisciplinary collaborations. "There's still more to come about how this develops further. It's all about a period of growth and learning, and to feel supported in that growth and learning, I think that allows me to expand for possibilities and future opportunities."

If public health work is sounding right for you, The School of Health Sciences and Human Performance is where you want to be.