Welcome to the Liggins Institute

As Director of the Liggins Institute, my mission is to foster an environment in which every Liggins researcher can deliver world-class research. The range of skills and the cutting-edge technologies we have here give us a unique capacity to deliver high quality translational research (particularly in the field of maternal and child nutrition) that will define us amongst biomedical research institutes throughout the world.

Multidisciplinary, translational research
The Liggins stands out amongst international biomedical research institutes because we are truly multidisciplinary. Our strength lies in our capacity to perform and deliver high quality translational research that moves from basic laboratory science, through pre-clinical testing in physiological models to clinical and population-based studies that can influence medical practice and health policy.

Research translation

Research partnerships
We have forged strong national and international linkages with researchers and organisations who have expertise and resources that complement our own. We aim to strengthen and extend our current partnerships and build new ones in the future. We welcome expressions of interest from both academia and industry.

Research partners

Research focus – importance of early nutrition
We are proud of the strong international reputation we have achieved in just a few years. This is largely due to our world class researchers and the strong leadership and research profile of the Institute’s founding director Professor Sir Peter Gluckman. We have made a number of important observations about how a baby’s early life environment impacts on the health and disease risk of individuals and communities.

Research themes

The nutrition of mothers and children is arguably the most critical of these environmental effects in determining the long term health of communities throughout the world. Much of our future research will focus on discovering how nutrition during critical stages of development, from before conception through to adolescence, affects the health of New Zealanders throughout their lives.

Nutrition research at the Liggins

Our interest extends beyond human health to agriculture. We are working with colleagues at AgResearch to show how pastoral animals are affected by their early life nutrition.

Pastoral Foods for Health Research Centre

Students and young researchers
We welcome postgraduate students and early career researchers to join us and experience the challenges and excitement of working at the cutting-edge of innovative, international health research that will make a difference to the way we live our lives in the 21st century.

Research opportunities

Community partnerships
Since the institute opened, part of its mission has been to establish a partnership between us and the community. We believe that as scientists we have a duty to keep the public fully informed about our research and its practical and ethical implications. Each year we provide a number of opportunities for our community to consider the ethical, moral, economic and political challenges that are raised by rapid advances in research. Our very successful LENScience programme provides opportunities for school teachers and students across New Zealand to access and interact with scientific research communities.

Liggins in the community
LENScience