Bacteria in your gut can change your mind? This is what John wants to bring to the forefront of modern microbiology. Understanding the internal biosphere of each individual has in them today can lead to the creation of a simple capsule can cure bowl illnesses. He is also a Principal Investigator at the APC Microbiome Institute and was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2017. He was a visiting fellow at the Dept Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia, which was followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA and The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California. He spent four years at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in Basel Switzerland, as a LabHead prior to joining UCC in 2005. His current research is focused on understanding the interaction between brain, gut & microbiome and how it applies to stress, psychiatric and immune-related disorders at key time-windows across the lifespan. In 2017 he received a Research Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterology Association and the Tom Connor Distinguished Scientist Award from Neuroscience Ireland. He was a TEDMED speaker in 2014 and is currently President-elect of the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx