Any researcher will tell you: the life of a working academic is rarely a path that you walk alone. At Deakin University’s Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Transformation (IMPACT), it’s one that Dr Bryony McNeill and Dr Leni Rivera tackle together, bringing their colleagues and PhD students along to build a supportive ecosystem.
Whether it’s intensive periods of teaching, long nights delving into data, collaborative ventures, ethical dilemmas, juggling work and home life or mentoring fellow academics, there are multiple touchpoints where these relationships can flourish or flounder.
Bryony and Leni balance teaching into the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program at the Deakin School of Medicine while undertaking lifechanging research into maternal wellbeing and the gut microbiome as part of their work at IMPACT.
By collaborating and drawing on each other’s strengths – while offering support whenever and wherever it’s needed – these two researchers are making a real difference through their thoughtful approach to research, teaching and PhD co-mentoring.
Dr Leni Rivera
One of the most rewarding parts of my academic career has been collaborating on research and co-mentoring PhD students with Bryony.
What started as a practical arrangement of sharing the supervision load and combining our research strengths has grown into a partnership grounded in trust, mutual respect and a shared investment in our students’ success.
We bring different perspectives to both research and mentoring, and at first glance, our research paths seemed distinct. As we began to collaborate more closely, however, it became clear that our differences were not a divide, but a bridge.
My work explores the complex relationship between gut health, nutrition and metabolic disorders, seeking to understand what we eat and how our bodies process food can influence chronic disease risk.
Bryony’s research, on the other hand, centres on pregnancy and lactation, critical periods where nutrition and physiology have profound impacts on both maternal and infant health.
Together, we’re able to explore the full spectrum of human health from the microbiome to maternal wellbeing, creating a more holistic approach to our research and aiming to inform more effective, evidence-based strategies for prevention and care.
What also makes this collaboration special is that it brings warmth and connection into spaces that can sometimes feel lonely: the late-night grant writing, the challenging manuscript revisions. Working side-by-side we’ve created not just stronger research, but a more supportive and human academic environment.
There’s a reliability that we bring to each other’s lives: the regular check-ins, the honest conversations, the willingness to step in when things get busy or tough. It’s knowing that someone will follow through, not just when it’s exciting but when it’s routine.
We both know what it means to juggle late nights of research with early mornings of school runs, to balance deadlines with school activities, and to carry the joy, chaos and fatigue that motherhood brings alongside the demands of academia.
Bryony also has an incredible sense of calm, the kind that puts everyone at ease. In moments when things feel uncertain or overwhelming, she has this natural way of staying centred and that helps others find their footing too.
By combining our strengths, we’re not only generating impactful research but also creating a rich, interdisciplinary environment for mentoring students. We want to inspire the next generation of researchers to think broadly, collaborate deeply, and pursue science that truly makes a difference.
Together, we create a space where being an academic and a parent doesn’t feel like a conflict, but part of a whole. This mutual support fuels our research and enriches our mentoring, showing our students that it’s possible to pursue academic excellence while embracing the full complexity of life.
Dr Leni Rivera
Dr Bryony McNeill
I first met Leni back in 2015. She’d just started at Deakin and we were teaching in the medical science unit to Doctor of Medicine students as part of their pre-clinical years.
While we share a background in physiology and cell biology, our areas of expertise are quite distinct but we’re both passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies.
What’s become increasingly clear through our work is that the gut microbiome undergoes significant changes during pregnancy and these changes may play a key role in managing complications like gestational diabetes.
Our collaboration is rewarding because we share a common passion for pregnancy-related research, yet bring different skills and perspectives to the work. We’re constantly learning from each other, which makes the partnership both productive and enjoyable.
Leni and I are also at a similar stage in our careers, which means we understand each other and can support one another through the more challenging times.
We both have demanding teaching and leadership roles, so we need to be efficient with our research time. On top of that, we both have children around the same age, so we often help each other when one of us needs to attend a school appointment or care for a sick child.
To build a successful collaborative relationship as a researcher, I believe it’s important to be kind, reliable, generous and trustworthy. We work closely together and often in stressful situations, so it’s essential to know that our colleagues have our backs and will support us when needed.
Dr Bryony McNeill
I feel very fortunate to have this kind of relationship with Leni and the rest of our team.
I’m excited about Leni’s research on modulating the gut microbiome through simple lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, sleep and stress management. This work holds great promise and could lead to impactful and accessible interventions.
One of our key research goals is to expand our work on gestational diabetes with the long-term aim of translating our findings into meaningful benefits for pregnant women and their babies.
When it comes to our PhD students, Leni is a fantastic supervisor and I aspire to apply some of the qualities that she has to my own supervision practice. She’s very supportive and is an excellent teacher in the laboratory, as well as being patient and remaining calm under pressure.
I think this approach has helped foster a positive culture within our lab. It’s wonderful to see our students supporting one another and pitching in on each other’s projects, especially on busy days in the lab or when collecting samples.
I hope we can continue to grow our laboratory and welcome more PhD students to join us in our research.
This article was originally created and published by Deakin Research and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
