Dr. Collins obtained his medical training at London University in England where he later specialized in internal medicine. He trained in gastroenterology at McMaster University in Canada before completing 3 years of research training in cell biology at the Digestive Diseases Branch, National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland USA. He has been on staff at McMaster University since 1981 where he was the Director of the Intestinal Diseases Research Unit from 1983-1993, and Head of the Division of Gastroenterology since 1993-2006. He is past president of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. His areas of interest include: the impact of inflammation on gut function, neuron-immune interactions, and the role of commensal bacteria in health and disease. He has over 200 publications including papers in Nature Medicine, Lancet, JCI, Gastroenterology and Gut. He has received continuous CIHR funding for over 20 years, has been a member of the MRC Science & Research Committee, and chaired the CIHR Experimental Medicine grants review committee for 5 years. He has also been an advisor to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America and Chaired the Strategic Initiatives Committee for The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada. He was the Associate Dean for Research at the Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University and holds the title of Distinguished University Professor – the highest rank awarded by the University.