University’s health expert joins prestigious Christmas Lectures series

Executive Pro Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Professor Louise Kenny was part of the line-up for the recent Royal Institution’s prestigious Christmas Lectures series.

Presented by Dr Chris van Tulleken, The Truth About Food followed the extraordinary journey food takes through our bodies. During the three-part series broadcast on the BBC between Christmas and New Year, he explored the very first moment we see and smell a potential meal, until it finally emerges at the other end of our digestive tract.

In the first lecture Professor Kenny joined Chris to talk about the gut microbiome. Bringing a goat called Juniper on stage, she shared insights into how the microbiome works in humans and animals.

Professor Kenny said: “It was an honour and great fun to take part in this year’s Ri Christmas Lectures, delivered by Dr Chris van Tulleken. As the lead investigator of Children Growing up in Liverpool (C-GULL), a cohort of Liverpool-born babies, it was wonderful to participate in such a wonderful tradition that is a special part of the Christmas season for so many children and young people. A big part of our work in C-GULL explores the role of the gut microbiome in determining health and this is the topic of my contribution to the lecture.”

The full series is available to watch on iPlayer here.

Dating back to 1825, the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures are the UK’s flagship science series and are shown on national television every year. First broadcast in 1936, they are the world’s longest running science TV series.

Both photos featured by Paul Wilkinson Photography.