Our Team
Kelsey E. Huus, Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, School of Nutrition Sciences
University of Ottawa CRC Tier 2 Candidate
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.
Join The Lab
Candidates interested in doing an Honour’s or MSc thesis in the lab are invited to reach out with a CV and brief statement of interest to khuus@uottawa.ca. I am still interested in last-minute candidates who could start in Sept 2026!
I will also begin considering motivated MSc or PhD candidates for a start date in Sept 2027 (university application deadline: Feb 2027).
For international applicants: please be aware of the international tuition fees, especially at the MSc level, which I unfortunately cannot cover out of my startup funds at this time. 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.