Charisse
CHILD Staff
What’s your role on the study team?
I’m the Deputy Director of CHILD, which means I lead an amazing team at our National Coordinating Centre. We help make sure all the research from the study runs smoothly and has the biggest possible impact on kids’ health in Canada and around the world.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Learning from passionate experts and seeing the results of our work. Every day is different, and I feel like I’m making a real difference.
What did you study and what are your research interests?
I received myPhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Utah, then completed a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of British Columbia (UBC), and have since worked as a researcher with CHILD Study Co-Director Dr. Stuart Turvey.
I studied microbiology and immunology because I fell in love with decoding the secret conversations between immune cells and microbes.
Leveraging bioinformatics, my research now focuses on the microbiota and its role in allergic disease, metabolism, neurodevelopment, and lung health.
How did you get involved with CHILD?
I first got involved with the CHILD Study during my postdoc with Dr. Brett Finlay, drawn in by the Study’s incredible depth, size, and diversity of data.
But it was as a researcher in Dr. Turvey’s lab that my passion grew beyond the microbiota to include the amazing researchers, participant families, and staff who make the CHILD Study what it is. I quickly realized that we, as an organization, have a rare opportunity to drive meaningful change in childhood health.
Now, as Deputy Director, I’m dedicated to ensuring CHILD’s sustainability and maximizing its impact on pediatric precision health research to support the healthy development of all children in Canada and beyond.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I am actually relatively new to British Columbia and Canada, so just traveling and visiting more of this beautiful country is number one on my bucket list.
If you could swap lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?
Honestly? I’d probably swap with Pru Leith from The Great British Baking Show. She gets to eat cake, wear smart glasses and bold prints, and say what she thinks with a posh accent. Sounds like a pretty solid day.
What hobbies or activities do you enjoy outside of work?
My favorite hobby is gardening, especially learning about native plants. I love supporting a tiny ecosystem of animals, plants, insects, and soil microbes. Each season brings something new, and when a plant returns in spring, it feels like I’m welcoming an old friend.
What is your favourite way to unwind?
Gardening again! When life gets stressful, nothing clears my mind like weeding, tossing grubs to the neighborhood crows, or finding some happy worms. I mean, who doesn’t feel accomplished after that?
Charisse is the Deputy Director of CHILD, working out of the National Coordinating Centre (NCC) in Hamilton, ON. Charisse assumed this role in 2025, after years of conducting research on CHILD microbiome data in the labs of Dr. Brett Finlay and CHILD Co-Director Dr. Stuart Turvey.
Created spring 2025