Lynnette Robin Ferguson
Professor
The University of Auckland
New Zealand
Biography
Lynnette Ferguson obtained her D.Phil. from Oxford University, working on the subject of DNA damage, DNA repair and mutagenesis in yeast. After her return to New Zealand, she began working as part of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, using mutagenicity testing as a predictor of carcinogenesis, with particular focus on the New Zealand situation. In 2000, she took on a 50% role as Head of a new Discipline of Nutrition at The University of Auckland. In more recent years, she has considered the interplay between genes and diet in the development of chronic disease, with particular focus on Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a cancer-prone condition, and also in prostate cancer. As programme leader for the multidisciplinary-multiorganisation Nutrigenomics New Zealand, she has been working with a range of others to bring nutrigenomics tools and potential to the New Zealand science scene. She has supervised more than 40 students to the successful completion of B.tech, MSc or PhD. Her laboratory regularly supervises 2-3 summer students each year. She is the author or co-author of more than 350 peer reviewed publications as chapters in books or articles in international journals. She serves on the Editorial Boards of several major journals.
Research Interest
Gene-diet interactions in the development of chronic disease, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Colorectal cancer, Prostate cancer