Alumnus bolsters world-first projects at University research institutes

A rare condition is something that occurs in one in 2,000 people. There are about 7,000 known rare disorders, which are much more frequent in neonatal intensive care. At the Liggins Institute, Professor Justin O’Sullivan is leading the Newborn Genomics project to accelerate diagnoses of rare diseases – giving more tiny fragile babies a fighting chance at a healthier life.

“For anyone with an unknown genetic disease,the uncertainty around what it is and how best tocare for that person can be very stressful, not just for that person but all their whānau. When this involves a child, it is even more stressful.”

"Given that on any one day in New Zealand there are around 200 children in neonatal intensive care, and around 30 percent are likely to have a rare genetic disorder, that’s a huge number of these conditions. Presently, we can diagnose and treat a few hundred, but over time we aim to be able to treat not only newborns but also more of those in the community who are undiagnosed or do not have a treatment plan. Speed of diagnosis makes a huge and lifelong difference to these families.”

In late 2023, the Liggins Newborn Genomics team acquired two cutting-edge sequencing units, opening revolutionary genetic sequencing in New Zealand which would help extend access to faster diagnosis of rare conditions. Acute care for newborn babies in intensive care where doctors suspected some sort of genetic disorder was the top focus. As 2024 unfolded, the team began comparing variations between a baby’s DNA and that of their parents. This process, known as trio sequencing, helps to signal if a newborn has one of several hundred rare conditions.

"Within six months, we made rapid progress. Now, we can complete trio sequencing in 96 hours,” says Justin.

A significant supporter of this pioneering project is Peter Gibson, an alumnus of the University of Auckland, who graduated with a BSc inChemistry in 1986. Peter has had a distinguished international career. After graduating, he worked with Fernz Corporation, before moving to global packaging and trading company Amcor. In 1994, Peter founded Industrial Resources, a company that supplied critical equipment and services to the oil, gas, and chemical industries worldwide. Today, Peter is the Executive Chairman and owner of Stellar Energy, a world-leading energy company developing innovative energy solutions for power, based in Florida, US.

Throughout his extensive career, Peter has maintained strong ties with his alma mater. He has attended alumni events in the US, UK and New Zealand and served as a valued board member ofthe UK Friends of the University of Auckland for several years.

Peter is one of three major donors, along with The Dines Family Charitable Trust and Kelliher Charitable Trust, supporting the Liggins Newborn Genomics project.

“With the support of Peter’s gift and that of our other donors, we have made rapid progress. We diagnosed 17 families in 2024 and will accelerate to diagnose more in 2025,” says Justin.

In time, Peter’s generosity to the University will benefit even more people with another one million-dollar donation bolstering two world-first projects at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI). One, the Virtual Pregnancy Project, aims to improve detection of problems in pregnancy that impair babies’ growth. The other, headed by Distinguished Professor Sir Peter Hunter, uses novel three-dimensional computer techniques to model the kidney, pancreas and liver from a cellular level to the whole organ. The team can then integrate this into existing models of whole systems physiology to provide unique models of homeostasis, as part of the larger 12 Labours project.

For over a decade, Associate Professors Alys Clark and Jo James have been investigating the health of the placenta, the organ responsible for feeding babies before they are born. They have developed the world’s first computerised model of pregnancy, including the placenta. They know that in around one in ten pregnancies, a baby does not grow as well as it should. In up to half of these pregnancies, the problem is not discovered until the baby is born – and, often, it’s small boys who are missed.

The team are looking to improve clinical tests, most of which currently don’t distinguish between whether the baby is male or female when predicting pregnancy complications.

With the support of Peter’s donation, the Virtual Pregnancy group has extended its data crunching to larger cohorts, big enough to show observable differences between sexes in the anatomy of the placenta.

“We take anatomical data,” says Alys, “and using our integrated virtual pregnancy models, we can predict what impact anatomy has on things we can’t measure, like blood pressure."

“To date, evidence suggests that male placentas require higher blood pressures to achieve the same blood flow rates, providing a physical mechanism that may explain risk in males.”

A new role filled by talented researcher Sahan Jayatissa is tasked with creating algorithms that, in the future, may detect these growth problems while parents-to-be are in the clinic.

Professor Merryn Tawhai, director of ABI, says the 12 Labours and Virtual Pregnancy projects, advancing the development of new digital technologies in medicine, are both highly ambitious and world-leading.

“Philanthropy is incredibly important for initiatives like these, which often face difficulties securing funding from traditional grant agencies due to their need for diverse teams and the creation of new capabilities and infrastructure."

“Peter’s generous support and his genuine interest in the success of the science are invaluable and provide significant motivation for the teams.”