Dr Carolina Gubert
BSc (Honours), MSc, PhD

Dr Carolina Gubert is a research fellow who leads the microbiota-gut-brain axis team of the Epigenetics and Neural Plasticity Group. She completed her masters and PhD in Biochemistry at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (both with scholarships funded by the Brazilian Government, 2012-2018).

She won a Brazilian-funded Fellowship (2018-2020), joining Prof. Hannan’s laboratory in 2018. This fellowship allowed her to get started in incorporating gut microbial community modulation into her neuroscience research background. Dr Gubert’s current interests rely on gene-environment interactions and the microbiota-gut-brain axis in brain disorders, including Huntington’s disease and schizophrenia.

Dr Gubert’s recent work has led to a successful Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme (University of Melbourne, sole CI) to study the impact of the gut microbiota on Huntington’s disease brain function. Her international recognition in the field is demonstrated by her current fellowship being awarded by a leading US-based foundation, the Hereditary Disease Foundation. In total, she has attracted over $300,000 in research funding to date.

Dr Gubert has over 40 publications in leading journals (e.g., Nat Rev Drug Discov, Brain Comm, iScience, Front in Cell and Develop Biol, Psych Res). She has also received 19 prestigious career awards, including the most recent: the 2023 Bethlehem Griffiths Research Foundation (BGRF) Emerging Researcher of the Year.