PhD Candidate
Ella Silk is a PhD student with the Department of Medicine, under the supervision of Professor Richard Gearry, Dr Simone Bayer, Professor Nicole Roy and Professor Mike Taylor of the University of Auckland. She has a Bachelor of Science and an Honours degree, both in Microbiology, from the University of Otago, Dunedin. Her Honours thesis focussed on the characterisation of novel bacteriophages against the kiwifruit pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae.
Making the switch over to clinical research, Ella is now part of the research team on High-Value Nutrition's multicentre clinical trial, He Rourou Whai Painga. This study will examine the health benefits of an "Aotearoa, New Zealand diet for metabolic health". Specifically, Ella's research aims to examine how the gut microbiome is affected by this dietary intervention. This work will provide insights into how the gut microbiome may play a role in the risk of developing metabolic disease, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes