Jordan Hamden

Meet Dr. Jordan Hamden, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.


Title:

Postdoctoral Fellow

Department/unit:

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Campus:

Vancouver

Dr. Jordan Hamden

How long have you worked at the Faculty of Medicine?

About one and a half years.

Tell us what you do at the Faculty in one or two sentences:

People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk for developing dementia, likely driven by an altered intestinal microbiome. The goal of my research is to understand the mechanism(s) by which the intestinal microbiome modulates brain development and aging and how gut-brain axis is altered in people with IBD resulting in an increased risk of dementia.

What’s your favourite thing about your work?

Getting to work on filling an intricate and interesting gap in our scientific knowledge that has real-world implications for people.

What do you hope will change as a result of your research?

Our long-term goal is to discover the mechanism that drives the IBD-dementia connection and develop an intervention.

Are there any research collaborators you’d like to acknowledge?

Dr. Carolina Tropini (School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Microbiology & Immunology) and her graduate student Claire Sie. Dr Tropini is an expert in the intestinal microbiome and inflammatory bowel disease. Without Dr. Tropini’s mentorship and support and Claire’s hard work we would not be equipped to study the gut-brain axis.

What trait do you admire in others?

If I had to pick one, I’d say dedication. It is easy to set a goal and to start working towards it, it is much more difficult to put in the long-term work needed to achieve the goals you set.


Published: January 2025