Our Team
Kelsey E. Huus, Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, School of Nutrition Sciences, University of Ottawa
Canada Research Chair, Tier 2
Head, Max Planck Partner Group
I’m a microbiologist with a passion for gut microbiome, nutrition, immunology, and human health. I obtained a PhD in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of British Columbia in 2021, working with Prof. Brett Finlay on the role of microbiome-immune interactions in child undernutrition. As a post-doc, I joined Prof. Ruth Ley at the Max Planck Institute for Biology, Germany, where I established and led the µHEAT study on diet-microbiome interactions and human vaccine responses. I’m absolutely delighted to return home to the University of Ottawa as a newly minted PI.
Kevin Pham, Honour’s Project (2026-27)
Kevin is a 5th year BHSc student in Health Sciences. He is studying the nutritional and biochemical cues that lead to the upregulation of flagellin in Waltera. In his free time, he likes to cook and go swimming.
Janik Renaud, Honour’s Project (2026-27)
Janik is a 4th year BHSc student in Nutrition Sciences, studying strain diversity in Waltera and its response to dietary cues.
Join The Lab
Candidates interested in joining the lab are invited to reach out with a CV and brief statement of interest to khuus@uottawa.ca.
For international applicants: please be aware of the international tuition fees, especially at the MSc level. Admission scholarships are program-dependent: information is available here and here and also (for French-language speakers) here.
Why join the Huus Lab?
Enjoy the beauty of Canada’s capital city, study at a uniquely bilingual (French-English) university, and benefit from cutting-edge resources in both nutrition and biomedical sciences - it’s win-win! In addition to the excellent environment, Dr. Huus has experience mentoring students from undergrad to PhD, with a great track record of completed theses and publications by her trainees. She firmly believes in supporting students to develop as independent scientists, and is committed to building a diverse, inclusive, collaborative research group - the kind of group that has each other’s backs both in and out of the lab.