Colleen Cutcliffe (on the microbiome)

Colleen Cutcliffe (Pendulum Therapeutics) is a doctor of biochemistry and microbiology and CEO and co-founder of Pendulum Therapeutics. Colleen joins the Armchair Expert to discuss starting a microbiome supplement company inspired by her premature daughter who had to take antibiotics, applying hyenas' evolved ability to digest rotting meat to study gut bacteria, and how fecal transplants reliably help treat C. diff. Colleen and Dax talk about the real linkages between microbiome and depression, obesity, and more, how the body’s natural GLP1s function, and why a healthy gut is a resilient gut. Colleen explains her wooden fence analogy to illustrate leaky guy syndrome, remarkable results from experiments giving mice Akkermansia, and that the beauty of the microbiome is that everything is recoverable.©2026 Armchair Expert | Wondery (P)2026 Armchair Expert | Wondery