Lynnette Robin Ferguson is a New Zealand academic, and as of 2021 is an emeritus professor at the
University of Auckland. Ferguson has been a Fellow of the
Royal Society Te Apārangi since 2016.
Academic career
Ferguson says she initially wanted to be a hairdresser, until a stint at hairdressing school showed her she did not have the talent or interest for it.
After completing a Masters of Science with Honours at the
University of Auckland, Ferguson completed a DPhil at the Department of Plant Sciences,
University of Oxford, in 1975, with a thesis titled ''The Control of DNA Repair in Yeast''. She returned to the University of Auckland School of Medicine for post-doctoral work, and then became an Auckland Cancer Society research career fellow.
Ferguson was promoted to full professor at the
University of Auckland in 2000, when she established a new Department of Nutrition. She is now a emeritus professor at the University of Auckland.
Ferguson works on
nutritional genomics
Nutritional genomics, also known as nutrigenomics, is a science studying the relationship between human genome, human nutrition and health. People in the field work toward developing an understanding of how the whole body responds to a food via s ...
, mutagenesis and the causes and control of chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. She has also worked on genes associated with satiety, the feeling of fullness after eating.
For ten years, Ferguson led Nutrigenomics New Zealand, which was a partnership between the University of Auckland, and three
Crown Research Institutes
In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research.
Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former Department of Scientific and Indu ...
:
Crop & Food Research,
AgResearch and
HortResearch. Research focused on the genetics of inflammatory bowel disease and how personalised dietary changes could influence disease. This led to the first international conference on nutrigenomics and gut health, in 2006.
Honours and awards
In the
2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ferguson was appointed a
Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.
Ferguson was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2016.
She is also a Fellow of the
New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology
The New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) is a professional society for food scientists and technologists in industry and academia in New Zealand.
History
Kelvin Scott was the inaugural professor of food technology at ...
.
Selected works
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References
External links
Interview with Ferguson, explaining the concept of nutrigenomicson Our Changing World, Radio New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Lynnette
Living people
New Zealand women academics
Year of birth missing (living people)
Alumni of the University of Oxford
University of Auckland faculty
University of Auckland alumni
Companions of the Queen's Service Order
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand