Dr. Marc Bomhof Associate Professor

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Marc grew up in Lethbridge and is proud to call Lethbridge home. He started a BSc in Biological Sciences at the University of Lethbridge, but after a semester took a hiatus from his studies to pursue his ambitions in the sport of road cycling, a sport he participated in from a young age. This pursuit took Marc to Limoux, France where he competed with an elite level amateur French cycling team. Although back problems forced a premature exit from the sport, the experience fostered an interest in the role of nutrition for improvement of sport performance and health. Upon his return to Alberta and the UofL, Marc switched into the ‘pre-nutrition’ program and transferred after one year to the University of Alberta to complete his BSc in Nutrition and Food Science and apply for the integrated dietetic internship program. While at the UofA Marc had the opportunity to spend several summers undertaking various nutrition and exercise related research projects as an NSERC summer student. These experiences proved very influential and piqued Marc’s interest in research as a career.

Upon completing the dietetic internship program in 2009, Marc worked as a clinical dietitian at the Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert, AB. Here he provided nutrition support services to patients in gastrointestinal surgery, intensive care, and internal medicine units and counseled individuals on the management of obesity and type 2 diabetes. His time working there helped Marc understand the challenges that individuals face managing these chronic diseases.

In 2010 Marc, along with his wife Tara, moved to Calgary to start a Master’s degree with Dr. Raylene Reimer, Professor of Nutrition in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. With emerging evidence that the gut microbiota, bacteria that dwell within the gastro-intestinal tract, play a major role in mediating metabolic health, Marc’s first research project looked at the mechanisms by which dietary fiber and probiotics improve metabolism in obesity. Motivated to continue exploring the interactions between diet, gut microbiota, and metabolic health, Marc transferred into the PhD program and added several studies to his thesis, one of which included looking at the therapeutic potential of prebiotic fiber to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Through his PhD, Marc was supported by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions, NSERC-CGS, and the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship.

In his ‘Tour de l’Alberta’, Marc is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge this summer to join the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education team at the UofL. In the next chapter of his research Marc will focus on how exercise and diet impact some of the underlying biological factors that control energy metabolism and mediate chronic disease.

Outside of work, Marc is also very passionate about the outdoors. He loves spending time hiking, fly-fishing, cycling, skiing, and camping. With a young family he is looking forward to introducing some of these activities to his kids. He says that despite his love for the sport of road cycling, upon his return to Lethbridge, you will not see him riding on our typical windy days – “I’m done with that”.