The Young Tall Poppy Science Awards celebrates Australian intellectual and scientific excellence.
Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow Dr Matthew Snelson, from the Nutrition Health Innovation Research Institute (NHIRI) within the School of Medical and Health Sciences, has been selected as a 2026 Young Tall Poppy for Western Australia.
The Young Tall Poppy Science Awards were created in 1998 by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science (AIPS) to recognise and celebrate Australian intellectual and scientific excellence and to encourage younger Australians to follow in the footsteps of our outstanding achievers.
Dr Snelson's research explores the gut's surprising role in some of Australia's biggest health challenges, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney disease. While these conditions are not usually considered gut-related, his research has shown that when the gut's protective lining becomes "leaky", bacteria and their by-products can enter the bloodstream, triggering chronic inflammation that damages the heart, blood vessels and kidneys over time.
By uncovering this link, his work is reshaping understanding of how these diseases develop and identifying new opportunities for prevention and treatment.
Dr Matthew Snelson
"It's a real honour, and what I like about this award is that it values both the science and the sharing of it," Dr Snelson said.
"Ultimately, the reason we do health research is to help people, and part of that means being able to communicate the science to people who aren't scientists."
Dr Snelson is now investigating how diet can strengthen the gut barrier and reduce harmful inflammation before irreversible damage occurs. Building on earlier research demonstrating that resistant starch can repair the gut lining and protect against kidney disease, his team is now developing new ways to measure gut leakiness in people and identify which types of dietary fibre provide the greatest benefit.
His long-term goal is to establish the gut barrier as a new treatment target, using evidence-based dietary approaches alongside existing medicines to improve cardiovascular and kidney health.
