Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at Otago

16/09/2026

The scavenging behaviour of many wild birds plays an important role in the type, number and variety of viruses they have, a new University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka-led study has found.

Lead author Dr Stephanie Waller, of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, says concern around bird flu highlights the major role wild migratory birds play in the global spread of viruses.

Read about the study, published in Current Biology, here

The scavenging behaviour of many wild birds plays an important role in the type, number and variety of viruses they have, a new University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka-led study has found.

15/09/2026

Congratulations to Maddie Hardie Boys (Department of Microbiology and Immunology) and Andy Stewart (Department of Anatomy), winner and runner up of the recent Otago Medical School Research Society PhD Student awards 2026.

The Society awards are a valuable opportunity for staff and students to share their health science research. This year, 10 PhD students, five from the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, presented their mahi. Maddie spoke about her research on “Loss of aminoarabinose lipid modification leads to cephalosporin antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.”

Society President Emily Gray says the standard of presentations was very high and was a wonderful showcase of the amazing health-related research being undertaken by PhD students at the University of Otago.

Pictured is Maddie receiving her award from Professor Greg Jones, Chairperson of the Otago Medical Research Foundation Scientific Committee.

14/09/2026

Messages in te Reo Māori are winging their way between the departments in Faculty of Biomedical Sciences - Te Kaupeka Mātai Rokoā-Koiora this week to encourage use of the language.

The Faculty has invited BMS staff from its four departments to send a postcard in reo Māori to their colleagues, as a way of connecting its community, fitting with the ‘town’ focus of this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori theme.

The 2026 celebration kicked off at the lunchtime market stalls in the Union, the BMS stall featuring its kahu huruhuru – Manurere, a traditional feather cloak gifted as a taonga to the Faculty in 2025, and guides to scientific kupu (vocabulary) put together by the Department of Biochemistry’s Dr Miriam Sharpe. Other events this week include making putiputi harakeke (flax flowers) or kono (baskets), playing Panga (Wordle) in te reo Māori, waiata, wharewhare (housie) and kemu (games) such as Tākaro.

13/09/2026

Ngā mihi nui to Leah Smith, from the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences - Te Kaupeka Mātai Rokoā-Koiora, who received an Early Career Award for Distinction in Research in this year’s Otago Research Awards.

Leah, a Research Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, is working on a Marsden Fast-Start Grant project to improve the efficacy of bacterial viruses (phages) as therapies against bacteria associated with antibiotic-resistant infections.

An emerging leader in bacterial genetics and functional genomics, Leah has had multiple publications in leading journals and shown exceptional success in securing competitive funding and fellowships early in her career.

Winning the prestigious 2024 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Young Talent Fellowship enabled her to visit collaborators in Europe to learn critical new techniques and expand her international research network.

A total of nine University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers and one research group were honoured for excellence across a range of disciplines – read more here https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/otago-researchers-celebrated-for-advancing-knowledge-and-improving-lives

11/09/2026

Tyla Hill-Moana, a PhD student from Te Tari Matū Koiora - the Department of Biochemistry, recently had a trip of a lifetime visiting one of the most geographically isolated inhabited places on Earth, Rapa Nui - Te Pito o te Henua (Easter Island), and making meaningful connections with the Mā‘ohi...

08/09/2026

A three-person team, led by Associate Professor Greg Walker from Otago’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, has just returned from the Solomon Islands after sharing a range of interactive science experiences with local schools.

The initiative extends a programme of delivering hands-on science engagement across the Pacific.

Greg presented two science showcases developed by researchers from Genomics Aotearoa based in the Department of Biochemistry, and from the Department of Public Health (Dunedin).

The hands-on interactives, displays, and demonstrations proved a big hit. “It was great to be able to spark a real interest and enthusiasm for science,” Greg says.

Read more here

A three-person team, led by Associate Professor Greg Walker from Otago’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, has just returned from the Solomon Islands after sharing a range of interactive science experiences with local schools.

07/09/2026

One of the highlights of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences (BMS) calendar is its student-lead research symposium, showcasing how biomedical research is being used to address real-life problems.

This year an impressive 78 students presented posters or talks at the symposium on a diverse range of topics from the genetics of kākā to how different neurons time the onset of puberty.

Read more here https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/biomedical-students-research-in-the-spotlight

07/09/2026

Competing in an international beauty pageant is about as far away from working a microbiology research lab in Dunedin as you can get, but Dr Shilpa Saseendran Nair is proof you can do both well.

Shilpa, a University of Otago postdoctoral fellow, has just won the title of Glammonn Mrs India Worldwide 2026.

Read about Shilpa's journey here https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/from-microbes-to-mrs-india-worldwide

03/09/2026

Faculty of Biomedical Sciences researchers have helped identify the cause of a previously unrecognised neurodevelopmental disorder.

Dr Meghan Mulligan, of the Department of Biochemistry, says the finding has given people around the world an answer to the source of their family member’s neurological condition.

“Neurodevelopment depends on precise orchestration of the dosage, location, and timing of gene expression. Before the study, the gene ELAVL2 was known to have an important role in helping influence brain development, but no one had connected it with a genetic condition. We have now discovered variants in this gene are the cause of a previously undefined neurodevelopmental disorder.”

Published in the prestigious journal The American Journal of Human Genetics, the study was an international collaboration between researchers at Otago and in the Netherlands. Read more here

University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers have helped identify the cause of a previously unrecognised neurodevelopmental disorder.

03/09/2026

Ngā mihi nui to Yuki Teh for her success at the most recent 3MT™ challenge 🥳

Based in the Department of Physiology, Yuki was the runner-up for the PhD category of the competition 👏

Yuki presented her doctoral research in three minutes using one slide, and titled this presentation ‘When breast cancer cells run red lights and speed away’.

Tino kino te pai!