BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Valerie Taylor, MD, PhD, FRCP is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary. Her academic focus is on obesity, metabolic syndrome and mental health. She is interested in the overlap between obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mental illness, the impact of pharmacotherapy on weight and behavior, and the role of the microbiome. She currently has 2 novel clinical trials looking at modifying the gut microbiome to treat mood disorders. She has over 120 peer reviewed publications and funding from a variety of national and international funding agencies.