About Us

Background

My original training is in applied mathematics and I’m broadly interested in the insights mathematical thinking can bring to the biological sciences.  These pursuits have taken me to ecology, evolution, maths/stats and bioinformatics groups in Europe and the United States as well as Australia. 

Research Focus 

I have worked with the Barwon Infant Study (BIS) to study how maternal and child microbiomes relate to allergic and psychological outcomes in children. I have also led a study, using BIS data, of the transmission of microbiota from mothers to their children. I consult widely within Deakin/ Barwon Health research precinct staff and students on microbiome and analytical questions generally. 

Beyond microbiome work I have contributed to BIS studies of mothers' exposure to plastic products, measures of her foetus's exposure to plastic metabolites, and neurodevelopmental outcomes. I have a strong interest in the analysis and visualization of high-dimensional longitudinal data. 

Feature Publications

• Lynch, Michael; O'Hely, Martin; Walsh, Bruce; Force, Allan. The probability of preservation of a newly arisen gene duplicate, Genetics 159 (4), 1789-1804, 2001
• Lynch, Michael; O'hely, Martin. Captive breeding and the genetic fitness of natural populations. Conservation Genetics. 2(4 ), 363-378, 2001
• Uren, Rachel T; O’Hely, Martin; Iyer, Sweta; Bartolo, Ray; Shi, Melissa X; Brouwer, Jason M; Alsop, Amber E; Dewson, Grant; Kluck, Ruth M. Disordered clusters of Bak dimers rupture mitochondria during apoptosis Elife 6, e19944, 2017
• Loughman, Amy; Ponsonby, Anne-Louise; O'Hely, Martin; Symeonides, Christos; Collier, Fiona; Tang, Mimi LK; Carlin, John; Ranganathan, Sarath; Allen, Katrina; Pezic, Angela. Gut microbiota composition during infancy and subsequent behavioural outcomes. EBioMedicine 52, 102640, 2020
• Vuillermin, Peter J; O’Hely, Martin; Collier, Fiona; Allen, Katrina J; Tang, Mimi LK; Harrison, Leonard C; Carlin, John B; Saffery, Richard; Ranganathan, Sarath; Sly, Peter D. Maternal carriage of Prevotella during pregnancy associates with protection against food allergy in the offspring. Nature communications 11 (1) 44013, 2020.

How you can help

Participate in a Clinical Trial

To find out about Clinical Trials currently underway at Barwon Health, click here. To learn more about the Adrian Costa Clinical Trials Centre, click here.

Donate

Research requires ongoing investment and there are several ways to support our work. You can make a donation today and contribute to an item on our research group’s wish list, consider a bequest in your will, or establish a lasting legacy fund in your name. No matter what size, your philanthropic support will deliver an immediate impact to this important work. To donate now or for more information, please contact the Barwon Health Foundation.