New funding fuels McGill-led breakthroughs on how gut viruses influence childhood health and how engineered proteins can prevent damaging oral bacterial biofilms. 

Corinne Maurice and Natalie Zeytuni from the School of Biomedical Sciences have received funding from the Weston Family Foundation’s Proof-of-Principle program, announced today. 

The Weston Family Foundation, through the Weston Brain Institute and the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative, supports science-based approaches to significantly improve the health and well-being of Canadians. The Proof-of-Principle program, through the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative, funds Canadian research efforts that advance the application of the microbiome to improve human health.  
 
Gut–virus interactions and early‑life health 

  
Novel protein‑based tools to block harmful oral bacteria  

Natalie Zeytuni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, received funding for her project titled, “Selective Inhibition of Bacterial Surface Structures to Restore Oral Microbiome Symbiosis”.  

Gum disease is one of the most common chronic conditions worldwide and is closely linked to imbalances in the oral microbiome. Zeytuni’s project aims to prevent it by blocking the earliest steps of harmful biofilm formation in the oral microbiome that drive long-term inflammation in the mouth and beyond.  

Using structural biology and protein engineering, her team will design small, stable proteins that recognize and block the surface structures that bacteria use to attach to teeth and form disease-promoting communities. These proteins will be produced and tested in controlled biofilm models to determine whether they can prevent disease-associated bacteria from joining and stabilizing these communities. By identifying vulnerable structural features on bacterial attachment machinery and developing prototype protein blockers that bind these sites with high specificity, Zeytuni’s work will lay the foundation for future development of topical, non-antibiotic strategies to support a healthier oral microbiome.