Speaker –
NMI Summit 2023
Dr. Miguel Toribio-Mateas, ProfD
Dr. Miguel is a clinical neuroscientist and applied microbiologist whose professional experience spans over two decades of work in both clinical and non-clinical roles in healthcare, science, and technology. He tackles the connection between the human gut microbiome and mental health from a transdisciplinary perspective that is informed by both scientific evidence and lived experience. His talk will focus on connecting the dots between the clinical literature on psychological trauma and childhood adverse events with changes in microbial signatures later in life. Being ADHD/autistic himself, Dr. Miguel will pay special attention to neurodevelopment and the gut-brain axis in neurodivergent individuals, emphasising the importance of the “brain to gut” downward communication stream of the gut-brain axis, while providing nutrition and lifestyle strategies to modulate the “gut/microbes to brain” upward stream. You can expect innovative thinking with a humane touch that’s user-friendly yet scientifically robust, in true Dr. Miguel’s style. Expect also a thorough review of the literature through an intersectional lens that takes into consideration not just biological but personal, interpersonal and societal/cultural determinants of health and disease and their impact on the microbiota gut-brain axis.
Dr. Miguel is the Neurodiversity Lead of the Person-Centred Neurosciences Society, and he supports youth mental health programmes at the London-based Body & Soul charity. He is the Head of R&D at the UK’s leading direct-to-consumer microbiome testing and gut health natural product manufacturer Chucking Goat. He also holds an honorary research fellow position at School of Psychology, Cardiff University.