The passionate and exuberant Professor John Cryan, Professor & Chair at the Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience, University College Cork joins me on the podcast this week. He chats to me about his exciting microbiome research on the neurobiological basis of stress-related disorders and on understanding the interaction between brain, gut & microbiome. John explains that we are living in a 'microbial world' and why he is interested in examining how the microbiome is shaping aspects of brain physiology and ageing.

He also chats to me about growing up in Roscommon, being the first in his family to go to University and his PhD experiences both at home and in Australia. He discusses his experiences in the US, his move to Industry and importantly why he took a pay cut to return to academia.

Such fascinating research on how the state of your gut can inform your state of mind, but John also gives excellent insights into how we can 'fuel the fire in the bellies' of young researchers to sustain this career. 

Follow John: jfcryan

Follow me: MeganHanlon4

This season is kindly sponsored by Bio-Sciences Ltd, now part of Thermo-Fisher Scientific.