Gut microbiome: Microbial friends within us 

  Host: Dr Hasinika Hewawasam Gamage

  Wednesday 16 April 2025, 6pm – 7.15pm 

  Theatre G25, Michael Kirby Building, 17 Wally’s Walk, Macquarie University

Overview

Trillions of microbes live in our digestive system, and together they form what’s known as the gut microbiome. These microbes and the substances they produce help us digest our food, absorb energy and nutrients, support our immune system, and even keep our brain healthy. Our diet, lifestyle, and overall health play a big role in shaping the makeup of our gut microbiome. When the balance of the microbiome is disturbed, it’s linked to a variety of health issues, including obesity, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and more.

The big question is: can we change our individual microbiome to help prevent or treat these conditions? Scientists are exploring ways to use prebiotics, probiotics, microbial molecules, and other microbe-based medications as potential treatments.

In this discussion, Dr Gamage will explain what the gut microbiome is, how it’s connected to disease, and cover some of the strategies being studied to alter the microbiome —including how well they work now, and how we might improve them.

Biography

Dr Hasinika Gamage is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Facilitated Advancement of Australia's Bioactives (FAAB) in the School of Natural Sciences. Her expertise is in gut microbiome research, where she uses molecular microbiology, next-generation sequencing, and bioinformatics to profile microbial communities within the gastrointestinal tract and explore their functions. 

Her research is highly collaborative and focuses on understanding how the gut microbiome influences health and disease – such as her recent paper. She also develops strategies to modulate gut microbes and their functions for therapeutic purposes.

Contact Us

For more details about the series, contact us at fse.outreach@mq.edu.au.