Professor Frank Harry Bloomfield

PhD, MCChB, BSc (Hons), FRACP, MRCP (UK)

Director - Liggins Institute

In: Liggins Institute

Professor - Clinical

In: Liggins Institute

Biography

Professor Frank Bloomfield is the Director of the Liggins Institute. He is a Professor in Neonatology, a Consultant Neonatologist at Auckland City Hospital, and past President of the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Frank took a BSc (first class honours) in Experimental Immunology and Oncology at the University of Manchester and then MBChB, also at Manchester. He trained in paediatrics in the north-west of England, obtaining MRCP before moving to New Zealand where he specialised in neonatal paediatrics, obtaining FRACP. He took a PhD in paediatrics at The University of Auckland and spent two years in Toronto as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto and a neonatal transport fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children. He was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Neonatology at The University of Auckland and a specialist neonatologist at Auckland City Hospital in 2002. In 2013 he was promoted to Professor and in 2015 was appointed Director of the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland.

Affiliations and collaborations:

Research collaborations within NZ and also with Monash University, Melbourne, partners in Europe and in the USA. Member of the international NEOMUNE consortium to improve neonatal nutrition.

Research | Current

Neonatal paediatrics
complications of preterm birth
fetal growth and development, particularly endocrine development
developmental origins of health and disease
neonatal nutrition and growth and the life-long consequences of altered growth
fetal growth restriction - definitions and core outcome sets

Major current research grants:

HRC project grant "ProVIDe RCT: does better early nutrition in preterm babies improve development?" 2014-2019
HRC programme grant “Feeding preterm babies for life-long health" 2016-2021
HRC project grant “Reducing inequity through timely detection of critical congenital heart disease" 2017-2020

Postgraduate supervision

Currently supervising 8 PhD students and co-supervising four PhD students.

Distinctions/Honours

FRACP
MRCP

Committees/Professional groups/Services

President, Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (2010-2014_

Member, National Maternity Monitoring Group, Ministry of Health

Member, Governance Board, New Zealand National Intestinal Failure Service

Member, Ministry of Health Expert Working Group on Maternity Indicators

Member, New Zealand Paediatric and Child Health Division Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (2011-2015)

Document Development Committee on Newborn Premature Screening, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute

Council Member, Perinatal Research Society (USA) 2015-2017

President, Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand 2014-2016

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Chong, C. Y. L., Bloomfield, F. H., & O'Sullivan JM (2018). Factors Affecting Gastrointestinal Microbiome Development in Neonates. Nutrients, 10 (3).10.3390/nu10030274
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Justin O'Sullivan, Clara Chong Yieh Lin
Spiroski, A. M., Oliver, M. H., Jaquiery, A. L., Prickett, T. C. R., Espiner, E. A., Harding, J. E., & Bloomfield, F. H. (2017). Postnatal effects of intrauterine treatment of the growth-restricted ovine fetus with intra-amniotic insulin-like growth factor-1. The Journal of physiology10.1113/jp274999
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Mark Oliver, Anne Jaquiery, Jane Harding
Bloomfield, F. H., Alexander, T., Muelbert, M., & Beker, F. (2017). Smell and taste in the preterm infant. Early human development10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2017.09.012
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Tanith Alexander, Mariana Muelbert
Pham, C. T., Karnon, J. D., Middleton, P. F., Bloomfield, F. H., Groom, K. M., Crowther, C. A., & Mol, B. W. (2017). Randomised clinical trials in perinatal health care: a cost-effective investment. The Medical journal of Australia, 207 (7), 289-293.
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Katie Groom, Caroline Crowther
Tottman, A. C., Alsweiler, J. M., Bloomfield, F. H., Pan, M., & Harding, J. E. (2017). Relationship between measures of neonatal glycemia, neonatal illness, and 2-year outcomes in very preterm infants. The Journal of Pediatrics, 188, 115-121. 10.1016/j.jpeds.2017.05.052
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/35468
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jane Alsweiler, Jane Harding, Anna Tottman
Harding, J. E., Cormack, B. E., Alexander, T., Alsweiler, J. M., & Bloomfield, F. H. (2017). Advances in nutrition of the newborn infant. Lancet (London, England), 389 (10079), 1660-1668. 10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30552-4
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Barbara Cormack, Jane Harding, Jane Alsweiler, Tanith Alexander
Alsweiler, J., Williamson, K., Bloomfield, F., Chase, G., & Harding, J. (2017). Computer-determined dosage of insulin in the management of neonatal hyperglycaemia (HINT2): protocol of a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 7 (3).10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012982
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/33729
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Jane Alsweiler, Jane Harding
Beker, F., Opie, G., Noble, E., Jiang, Y., & Bloomfield, F. H. (2017). Smell and Taste to Improve Nutrition in Very Preterm Infants: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial. Neonatology, 111 (3), 260-266. 10.1159/000450883
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2292/33162
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Yannan Jiang