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Liggins Link—February 2026
Kia ora koutou,
Welcome to the first Liggins Link for 2026. The Gut Bugs team takes centre stage in this edition, with several stories about the Institute’s pioneering gut microbiome research and the donation process for fecal microbiota transplants (FMT).
If you’re interested in finding out more, don’t miss our March public lecture, ‘The Good Sh*t: turning microbiome science into therapy’. Researchers will take you inside the gut microbiome trials already underway, and the next wave of studies aiming to tackle some of today’s toughest health challenges. We look forward to sharing this exciting event with you. Register now for your free tickets.
Finally, we celebrated the dedication and achievements of a record number of Liggins Institute students at the December graduation ceremony. Congratulations to all our outstanding graduates, to doctoral candidate Dr Ashleigh Brown on being awarded a training fellowship, and to Sir Peter Gluckman on being named a Semi-Finalist for the 2026 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Award.
Ngā mihi nui
Justin
Professor Justin O'Sullivan
Director, Liggins Institute,
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
NGĀ KAUPAPA NUI | EVENTS
Public Lecture – The Good Sh*t: turning microbiome science into therapy
Thursday, 19 March 2026, 6–7pm
Lecture Theatre 505-011, Grafton Campus, 85 Park Rd, Auckland
Anxiety, antibiotics, and revolutionary weight loss - inside the gut microbiome trials that could reshape treatment within years
What if anxiety could be treated through the gut? What if a designer super probiotic could deliver lasting weight loss and better metabolic health, and be sold at your local pharmacy? What if we could protect a child’s microbiome during a course of antibiotics, rather than just hope for the best?
At this Liggins Institute public lecture, researchers will take you inside the gut microbiome trials already underway, and the next wave of studies aiming to tackle some of today’s toughest health challenges. From new insights into the gut–brain axis and mental health, to obesity and the long-sought “silver bullet” of sustainable weight loss, this is microbiome science moving rapidly toward real-world therapies.
Speakers include Liggins Institute Director Professor Justin O’Sullivan, Professor Wayne Cutfield, and Research Fellows Dr Amila Nawarathna and Dr Theo Portlock.
Join us at 6pm on Thursday, 19 March for a provocative and insight-packed evening. You and your microbiome are welcome to stay for drinks and nibbles afterwards.
Enhancing Lactation Care after Stillbirth and Infant Loss: A Workshop with the Lactation After Loss Quilt
- Tuesday 17 March 2026, 3pm - 4.30pm
- OR Thursday 19 March 2026, 10am - 11.30am
The Centre for Arts and Social Transformation and the Liggins Institute invite healthcare professionals to participate in a workshop and research project titled “Enhancing Lactation Care after Stillbirth and Infant Loss: A Workshop with the Lactation After Loss Quilt". The workshop will be led by Associate Professor Katherine Carroll from Australian National University.
PITOPITO KŌRERO | NEWS
Can you donate your poo in New Zealand?
Even if public enthusiasm was high, the demanding and stringent donor process means only a select few can help advance this unusual but promising therapy.
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Poo transplants may sound unglamorous, but the early evidence has been encouraging, and it’s grabbed attention around the world. Liggins Institute researchers, Professor Justin O’Sullivan and Professor Wayne Cutfield, have spent nearly a decade studying fecal microbiota transplants (FMT), and which specific gut bacteria drive benefits. In a recent RNZ article, they discuss their research and the demanding poo donation process. Visit the RNZ article to find out more. |
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- The difficulty of finding poo donors | RNZ. Listen to this RNZ interview with our director, Professor Justin O'Sullivan, about how to become a poo donor.
Sir Peter Gluckman Semi-Finalist for 2026 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year
Congratulations to Sir Peter Gluckman on being named a Semi-Finalist for the 2026 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Award Te Pou Whakarae o Aotearoa.
Sir Peter has dedicated his career to strengthening Aotearoa's science and policy landscape, championing international cooperation on global challenges.
He was the inaugural Director of the Liggins Institute, which he established in 2001 alongside fellow founding directors Professors Jane Harding, Murray Mitchell, and Stewart Gilmour. Together, they laid the foundations for what has become a globally recognised institute focused on improving lifelong health.
We wish Sir Peter the very best of luck in the awards.
In 2026, feed your microbiome what it deserves
'Expert Tips in 2 Minutes' host Joelle Ireland and Professor Justin O'Sullivan.
Professor Justin O'Sullivan knows all about the microbiome. But do you? Joelle Ireland gets some experts tips about its purpose.
If the festive season and holidays have left your gut in a mess, perhaps it's time to pay some attention to your microbiome.
Professor Justin O'Sullivan, director of the Liggins Institute, took two minutes to explain the essence of the microbiome for our 'Expert Tips in 2 Minutes' series.
"Your microbiome are the organisms that live on all of your body’s surfaces. They live in your gut. They are bacteria, phages that attack bacteria, eukaryotic cells and a whole lot of organisms."
"They affect your health, your well-being and your development."
Pharmac seeks advice on Wegovy government funding
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Pharmac is currently seeking clinical advice on whether Wegovy should receive public funding. In a recent RNZ interview, Professor Wayne Cutfield outlines key considerations, including who may benefit most, the equity challenges associated with current costs, and the need for lifestyle change alongside medication. |
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Pursuing answers for the youngest patients
Dr Toyin Oladimeji with supervisor Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding
Toyin Oladimeji never planned on being a doctor. Growing up on the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University in southern Nigeria, both her parents were doctors, and more than 80 percent of the students in her science-focused high school planned to do medicine.
She would be different.
“I decided I would be an engineer. But one day my mother asked ‘Why don’t you consider medicine...” And so, perhaps inevitably, Oladimeji ended up training to be a doctor, getting a place at Obafemi.
A couple of years after finishing her masters at the University of New South Wales, Oladimeji started her PhD at the Liggins Institute working with top neonatal specialist Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding.
“I explored how exposure to high glucose concentrations in the womb might impact child health. Every year, gestational diabetes impacts millions of pregnancies, including thousands in Australia and New Zealand.”
Congratulations to our Liggins Institute graduands!
Liggins Institute graduands from left to right: Dr Chantal Buckley, Dr Melenaite Tohi, Dr Anthony Walters, Dr Simone Watkins, Dr Toyin Oladimeji, Dr Mark de Hora, Dr Francesca Amitrano and Dr Grace Wei. Not pictured: Dr Mohammad Shahbaz, Dr Rachel Jaros, Dr Subhasish Das, Jaimey Hazelhurst, Piper Manolas.
A huge congratulations to our amazing graduands:
PhD: Mohammad Shahbaz, Simone Watkins, Anthony Walters, Francesca Amitrano, Grace Wei, Toyin Oladimeji, Melenaite Tohi, Rachel Jaros, Mark de Hora, Chantal Buckley, Subhasish Das (in absentia)
MHSc: Jaimey Hazelhurst, Piper Manolas (in absentia)
Your dedication and achievements make us proud. Wishing you all the best as you take the next steps in your careers.
Dr Mohammad Shahbaz and Professor Justin O'Sullivan.
Triple graduate’s lifelong commitment to children’s well-being
PhD graduate Grace Wei on graduation day in the University's ClockTower building.
A solitary childhood as an only child of busy, working parents led recent Liggins Institute PhD graduate Xingyu Wei (Grace Wei) to her later fascination with children and teenagers' emotional wellbeing.
“In many Chinese families, emotional communication between parents and children tends to be limited, and throughout my childhood, I often longed for someone to talk to and confide in. This inner longing was the driving force behind my decision to study child psychology.”
After completing her masters, Grace joined a project at the Liggins Institute focusing on babies born at risk of neonatal hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) supervised by Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding, Dr Nike Franke and Associate Professor Chris McKinlay. Initially, she’d hesitated because her background was in psychology, not medicine.
“However, I realised this was a unique chance to apply my expertise in child development to a practical, health-focused study that could make a real difference in children’s lives, both physically and psychologically.”
WHAKAMIHI | CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to doctoral candidate, Dr Ashleigh Brown, on being awarded an HRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship of $173,330 for 24 months for her research titled ‘Thyroid dysfunction in infancy: detection, aetiology and clinical safety.’
Thyroid hormones are crucial for growth and brain development, and it can be difficult to interpret results during the early neonatal period. The current projects are looking for associations between positive newborn screening for congenital hypothyroidism and iodine deficiency in preterm infants.
Ashleigh is one of nine researchers from the University who have been successful in gaining 2026 Research Career Development awards from the Health Research Council.
