Elena M. Comelli, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Departments of Nutritional Sciences

Ph: 416.978.6284
Fax: 416.978.5882
elena.comelli@utoronto.ca



Primary Affiliations:

• Department of Nutritional Sciences
  

Education/Degrees:

• 2005, Postdoctorate, Nutrition and Health, Nestlé Research Centre Lausanne, Switzerland
• 2003, Postdoctorate, Molecular Biology (Glycobiology), The Scripps Research Institute San Diego, USA
• 2000, Doctorate (PhD), Doctorate of Philosphy, Technical Sciences (Microbiology), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland
• 1994, Master’s equivalent, Food Science and Technology, University of Milano, Italy.

Awards/Recognition:

• 2010, Poster of Distinction, presented at Canadian Digestive Disease Week, Toronto
  (supervisor of Natasha Singh recipient)
• 2008, Dean’s Fund, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
• 2002, Speaker travel award, Society for Glycobiology Conference, Boston
• 2001, Speaker travel award, Society for Glycobiology Conference, San Francisco
• 2001, Admission to the Italian Food Technoligists Register 1992, Awarded a European Community fellowship at the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Porto

Professional Memberships:

• 2008, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology    

Research

We investigate how the interaction between diet and the gut microbiota affects the intestinal barrier. We mainly implement functional genomics approaches to understand how dietary interventions (ie probiotics) impact gut microbiota composition and host health. Keywords: intestinal tract, gene expression, mRNA, miRNA, bifidobacteria, mucins, postnatal development, inflammatory bowel disease, gut microbiota, host-bacteria interaction, probiotics                                         

Current Students

MSc candidates:

• 01/2011 - present: Wen SU (co-supervisor Thomas Wolever). Gut microbiota composition,
  BMI and dietary intake.
• 09/2010 – present: Andrea GLENN (co-supervisor Wendy Ward). Vitamin D in inflammatory
  bowel disease.

Work-study:

• 09/2011 – present: Sophia LI. Dietary vitamin D and gut microbiota composition.

Recent Publications:                                                   

 

1. Singh N, Shirdel E, Waldron L, Zhang R, Jurisica I, Comelli EM. The murine caecal microRNA signature depends on the presence of the endogenous microbiota. Int J Biol Sci. 2012;8 (2):171-86.
2. Comelli EM, Lariani S, Zwahlen MC, Fotopoulos G, Holzwarth J, Cherbut C, Dorta G, Corthesy-Theulaz I, Grigorov M. Biomarkers of human gastro-intestinal tract regions. Mamm Genome, 2009, 20 (8): 516-527.
3. Guglielmetti S, Tamagnini I, Minuzzo M, Arioli S, Parini C, Comelli E, Mora D. Study of the adhesion of Bifidobacterium bifidum MIMBb75 to human intestinal cell lines. Curr Microbiol. 2009, 59 (2): 167-172.
4. Comelli EM, Simmering R, Faure M, Donnicola D, Mansourian R, Rochat F, Corthesy-Theulaz I and Cherbut C. Multifaceted transcriptional regulation of the murine intestinal mucus layer by the endogenous microbiota. Genomics, 2008, 91 (1): 70-77.
5. Wang Y, Holmes E, Comelli EM, Fotopoulos G, Dorta G, Tang H, Rantalainen MJ, Lindon JC, Corthesy-Theulaz I, Fay LB, Kochhar S, Nicholson JK. Topographical variation in metabolic signatures of human gastro-intestinal biopsies revealed by high-resolution magic-angle-spinning 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Journal of Proteome Research, 2007,
6. (10): 3944-3951. 6. Comelli EM, Sutton-Smith M, Yan Q, Amado M, Panico M, Gilmartin T, Whisenant T, Lanigan CM, Head SR, Goldberg D, Morris HR, Dell A, Paulson JC. Activation of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes leads to dramatic remodeling of N-linked glycans. J. Immunol. 2006, 177 (4): 2431-2440.
7. Comelli EM, Head SR, Gilmartin T, Whisenant T, Haslam SM, North SJ, Wong NK, Kudo T, Narimatsu H, Esko J, Drickamer K, Dell A, Paulson JC. A focused microarray approach to functional glycomics: transcriptional regulation of the glycome. Glycobiology, 2006, 16 (2): 117-131.
8. Schumann A, Nutten S, Donnicola D, Comelli EM, Mansourian R, Cherbut C, Corthesy-Theulaz I and Garcia-Rodenas C. Neonatal Antibiotic Treatment Alters Gastrointestinal Tract Developmental Gene Expression and Intestinal Barrier Transcriptome. Physiol. Genomics, 2005 23 (2): 235-45.
9. Amado M, Yan Q, Comelli EM, Collins BE, Paulson JC. PNA high phenotype of activated CD8+ T cells results from de novo synthesis of CD45 glycans. J. Biol. Chem. 2004, 279 (35): 36689-97.
10. Comelli EM, Amado M, Lustig SR, Paulson JC. Identification and expression of Neu4, a novel murine sialidase. Gene, 2003, 321: 155-161.
11. Comelli EM, Amado M, Head SR, Paulson JC., 2002, Custom microarray for glycobiologists: considerations for glycosyltransferase gene expression profiling. In Glycogenomics: The Impact of Genomics and Informatics on Glycobiology, K. Drickamer and A. Dell eds. 1-8 (Book Chapter).
12. Comelli EM, Guggenheim B, Stingele F, Neeser JR. Selection of dairy bacteria strains as probiotics for oral health. Eur. J. Oral Sci., 2002, 110 (3): 218-224.
13. Hidalgo A, Lucisano M, Comelli EM, Pompei C. Evolution of chemical and physical yolk characteristics during the storage of shell egg. J. Agric. Food Chem., 1996, 44 (6): 1447-1452.
14. Lucisano M, Hidalgo A, Comelli EM, Rossi M. Evolution of chemical and physical albumen characteristics during the storage of egg. J. Agric. Food Chem., 1996, 44 (5): 1235-1240.

PubMed