Gut Microbes for Health Experts Exchange is a medium to share news, innovation and information among experts on the topics of Gut Microbiota for Health. It is an initiative of the European Society for Neurogastroenterology and Motility with the institutional support of Danone.

ABC News story on probiotics used for necrotizing enterocolitis in Australia and New Zealand.

Just released, Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota (2013) concise monograph available free from ILSI Europe. Also available (2010) Prebiotic Effects: Metabolic and Health Benefits (2010) by M. Roberfroid et al. [BJN 104(Suppl.2):S1-S63].

The American Gastroenterological Association created the AGA Center for Gut Microbiome Research and Education to function as a virtual “home” for AGA’s activities related to the gut microbiome. AGA also named a ten-member scientific advisory board to this center, including ISAPP’s executive director.

The Dannon Company Announces Second Yogurt and Probiotics Fellowship Program. Applications for this $25,000 scholarship for an incoming or current graduate student studying the nutritional benefits of yogurt (including probiotics) are being accepted through April 15, 2013. The application and full scholarship details are available at www.dannon.com/fellowship.

The European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility launched a website to distribute information on research and applications of gut microbiota for experts, media and society. Gut Microbiota Worldwatch.

Collaboration of ISAPP on Microwarriors 2, the new movie exploring the latest scientific research in probiotics from around the world, is announced.

Continuing Education courses on probiotics: Probiotics for GI Health in 2012: Issues and Updates (CME-certified, targeted for primary care physicians). Free.
Probiotic Supplementation: What Nurse Practitioners Need to Know to Recommend Safe and Effective Formulations. (CE-certified, targeted for nurse practioners.) Free.

National Geographic features microbes in a new article, “Small, Small World. They’re invisible. They’re everywhere. And they rule.” Article accompanied by intriguing photographs, including one of gut microbes. Liberties are taken with colorization, however. As one probiotic microbiologist noted, if microbes from our gut were all colors of the rainbow, our poo wouldn’t be such a drab brown. Another feature for the popular press, Slate online highlighted vaginal microbiota in a recent article, What’s in Your Vagina? A healthy microbiome, hopefully.

See the newly released report from the ISAPP meeting held in Cork, Ireland October 1-3, 2012. Download meeting report.

The Global Probiotics Council, a committee established in 2004 by DANONE Research and Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., announced the 6th annual Young Investigator Grant for Probiotics Research. Three $50,000 annual grants will support new research on probiotics and gastrointestinal microbiota in the United States. Young Investigators committed to basic research on gastrointestinal microbiota, probiotics and their role in health and wellness should apply (by February 12, 2013). Information.

Continuing Medical Education: “Probiotics for GI Health in 2012: Issues and Updates” posted today and is available free of charge.

The term “probiotic” will no longer be allowed on food labels in the EU starting December 14, 2012. EFSA has remained unconvinced that the strength of the science behind probiotic products meets their efficacy standards. Conferring a health benefit is imbedded in the term, “probiotic;” therefore, the term can only be used on products with an approved health benefit. NUTRAingredients article.

The ISAPP Board of Directors responds to the accusation of publication bias in the field of probiotic research: no evidence that publication bias for probiotic field is any different than other fields. ISAPP calls for publication of all studies (positive, negative or null) and full disclosure of conflicts of interest. Open letter.

The Gut Microbiota & Health Section of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility launched an online Facebook platform titled “Gut Microbiota World Watch.” This public information service is devoted to spreading knowledge and raising recognition of the importance of the gut microbiota for overall health.

ISAPP sponsors speakers at first Probiotic Association of India conference in New Delhi. Report.

Science Friday radio interview with Susan Lynch, UCSF, on microbial colonization of healthy sinuses, “Microbes benefit more than just the gut.”

Webcast now available: “The New Microbiota & Probiotics Paradigm: from Mechanisms to Clinical Applications”, featuring the following lectures and Q&A:

• Stability and Disrupting the Microbiota, Patrick Schloss, PhD, University of Michigan
• Intestinal Dysbiosis as a Basis for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Stephen M. Collins, MBBS, FRCP(UK), FRCPC, McMaster University
• Restoring a Healthy Microbiota: What Tools Do We Have? R. Balfour Sartor, MD, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Sponsored by an educational grant from the Dannon Company, Inc. and Yakult Hosha Co., Ltd