The article is available to read in free full text at:  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.150187

Soumerai SB, Starr D, Majumdar SR. (2015). How Do You Know Which Health Care Effectiveness Research You Can Trust? A Guide to Study Design for the Perplexed. Preventing Chronic Disease, 12:150187.

Two up-and-coming University of Otago researchers are the latest recipients of the Carl Smith Medal and Rowheath Trust Award.

Associate Professor Jessica Palmer (Faculty of Law) and Associate Professor Suetonia Palmer (Department of Medicine, Christchurch) are co-recipients of the Award and Medal which recognise outstanding research performance of early-career staff at Otago and are accompanied by a $5000 grant for personal scholarly development.

Announcing the honours, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Blaikie warmly congratulated both researchers saying the pair had already made important international contributions to their respective disciplines.

“Both Jessica and Suetonia have outstanding records of scholarly achievement and are richly deserving of this recognition. Their research accomplishments, academic and professional contributions are seen as truly world class.

“The international referees highlighted the impacts that the research findings of Jessica and Suetonia have made on the practice of Law and Medicine respectively, and the assessment committee was compelled to make a joint award. They are outstanding examples of the calibre of translational research being undertaken at Otago.”

Jessica Palmer’s research primarily focuses on the areas of trusts and restitution. Trusts being very popular in New Zealand, her innovative work has been influential on the development of trust law in this country and is regularly cited by the courts.

While Jessica is as yet unsure how she will allocate the award money, the former recipient of the Law Foundation’s Ethel Benjamin Scholarship, says she feels “very lucky to be acknowledged in this way”.

“This award is a strong vote of encouragement from the University that the work I am doing is worthwhile and that I am doing it well. Otago is a wonderful place to teach and research and I know that I have benefitted from many discussions with colleagues, students and visitors that have helped to develop my thinking and direct my research enquiries.

“I am also grateful for the support I have had to develop relationships with academics from other universities in New Zealand and internationally which has been crucial to progressing my research.”

Suetonia Palmer is a kidney specialist and Rutherford Discovery Fellow, who is interested in evaluating whether medicines are effective. Her particular research focus is in applying meta-analysis (the mathematics of combining research studies together) to study the evidence behind treatments used for people with kidney disease, which has previously awarded her a L’Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship.

Of receiving the award, she says: “I feel much honoured, particularly given the high standard of research done by many outstanding researchers at the University. It is also gratifying to see recognition for the usefulness of meta-analysis in clinical medicine.

“This award will allow me to spend more time with my international collaborators to generate more research ideas and strengthen connections.”

The two researchers will each give public lectures later this year, at which they will be presented with the Medal.

The Rowheath Trust was established in 1964 by Carl Smith – whose family lived in the Rowheath area of England – to support the University. Mr Smith received an honorary doctorate from Otago in 1968.

Associate Professor Jessica Palmer

Jessica Palmer is an Associate Professor in the Law Faculty and teaches courses in contract, equity and commercial law. She is a graduate of Auckland and Cambridge. She was a Judges’ clerk in the High Court in Auckland and worked in a national corporate law firm before coming to Otago.

Much of Jessica's recent research has been in trust law. She was a member of the New Zealand Law Commission’s reference panel for its recent review of the law of trusts. This is a major review undertaken at the request of the Government to reform trust law and respond to the general discontent of many New Zealanders with the apparent widespread abuse of trust structures.

Trusts are very popular in New Zealand and are widely used by people to protect their home and other assets from claims by creditors, spouses or partners, and from the State’s means test for state subsidies. Trusts are normally discretionary in nature, which allows the settlors who created the trusts to hold themselves out as not having any beneficial interest in the trust assets. Yet, at the same time they give themselves significant powers to control the trust for their own benefit.

Not surprisingly, these trusts are coming under increasing scrutiny. Any avenues used by the courts or Parliament to set aside or look through trusts demand close attention because of the potentially far reaching consequences they have for the traditional understanding of the trust. Jessica has written on the rights of beneficiaries and on the avenues available to creditors, spouses and partners to access the property held in these trusts.

Her work is cited regularly by courts and has been influential on the development of the law in relation to sham trusts and the control of express trusts. For example, her writing was relied on by the New Zealand Court of Appeal in cases that have attracted much attention for trust and matrimonial property lawyers (Clayton v Clayton [2015] NZCA 30; Official Assignee v Wilson [2008] NZLR 45). A Court of Appeal judge has cited her work as an example of the important contribution that academic lawyers can make to the development of law (G Hammond, “Judges and Academics in New Zealand” (2013) 25 NZ Universities Law Review 681 at 690).

Jessica is an author in two leading textbooks in New Zealand on the law of trusts and on civil remedies (A Butler (ed) Equity and Trusts in New Zealand (2nd ed) Wellington, Thomson Reuters (2009; P Blanchard (ed) Civil Remedies in New Zealand (2nd ed) Wellington, Thomson Reuters (2011)). She is also a contributing editor to the New Zealand Law Review on equity and restitution.

Associate Professor Suetonia Palmer

Suetonia Palmer is an Associate Professor and kidney specialist who is based in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch. After qualifying as a doctor and specialist in 2005, she completed a PhD before attending Harvard Medical School as a post-doctoral fellow. Since returning to New Zealand and joining the University of Otago in 2011, she has conducted research within a large international collaboration.

Her significant contribution includes applying complex meta-analysis techniques to medical treatments to discover whether drugs are effective. The combining of hundreds of drug trials together to provide greater power to detect side-effects and even evaluate treatments against placebo when these trials have not been extensively available, have led to definitive summaries of the evidence for doctors and policy-makers.

The research has identified that many widely prescribed treatments have little evidence to support their use and some are not demonstrably better than receiving no treatment. These findings have been published in the world’s leading medical journals including the Lancet, JAMA, PLoS Medicine, and the Annals of Internal Medicine and informed global policy and clinical guidelines for medical practice. Suetonia also works as a clinical kidney specialist at Christchurch Hospital.

In 2012 she was the first New Zealand woman to receive a L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowship and is currently a Rutherford Discovery Fellow (2014-2019) awarded by the Royal Society. She was a 2013 recipient of the University’s Early Career Award for Distinction in Research. She attributes her research achievements to the dedicated and talented colleagues who she works with around the world.

Three Dennis Pickup Clinical Educator Awards and five Butland Teaching Excellence awards were presented at a ceremony in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences this week.

The Dennis Pickup Clinical Educator Awards are made to clinical teachers who are judged by staff and students to have made an outstanding contribution to medical, nursing, optometry or pharmacy education.

“This is by virtue of their qualities as role models in clinical practice and their contribution to the relationship between the health professions and the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences,” said Deputy Dean, Distinguished Professor, Ian Reid.

“These awards recognise clinicians and practitioners who give their time to assist in the education of health professionals,” he said.

Dennis Pickup is a previous CEO of Auckland City Hospital, and in that role he played a crucial part in establishing the enduring partnership between the University of Auckland and the hospital.  These awards were presented by Dennis Pickup.

Professional Teaching Fellow and GP, Dr Chris Wong from the Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare at the School of Population Health was awarded the Dennis Pickup Award for his contribution to general practice in the medical programme.

“Dr Chris Wong is a GP in West Auckland and is employed to teach medical students one day a week,” said Director of the Teaching Programme, Associate Professor Warwick Bagg. “The contribution he makes to general practice in the medical programme is immense.”

Dr Wong co-ordinates and teaches in the Year 4 General Practice Observed Patient Simulations for a full week, six times a year, and in 2014 redesigned the week and arranged for it to be delivered in Hamilton .

He is actively involved in all aspects of the general practice teaching, including facilitating Year 5 and Year 6 symposium days, marking written assignments from them as well as Year 2 assignments. He attends team meetings; contributes to protocols and visits practices to accredit them as community-based teaching sites.

He has also contributed to the medical programme by assessing clinical scenarios and progress test questions for general practice relevance, interviewing candidates for medical school admission and assisting with the inaugural Year 5 Clinical Skills Assessment examination.

“Chris is an excellent clinician who serves as a wonderful role model to inspire students to consider general practice as a career option,” said Dr Bagg.  “As a GP working four days in clinical practice, he brings a grassroots general practice perspective to his teaching and serves as a great bridge between clinical practice and academia.”

“He is an extremely innovative teacher,” he said. “His involvement in so many aspects of the curriculum means his input has a huge impact on student learning. The passion and time he gives to so many components of general practice teaching far exceeds the expectations for someone employed on this basis and is very deserving of a clinical educator award.”

Clinical Director of the Paediatric Service in Rotorua for Lakes DHB, Dr Stephen Bradley, also received a Dennis Pickup award that acknowledged his sustained and wide ranging contribution to the medical programme.

“Dr Bradley is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health and has demonstrated his commitment to undergraduate and postgraduate education throughout his career as a consultant paediatrician at Lakes DHB,” said Dr Bagg.

Dr Bradley now holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Education and is currently undertaking his Masters in Clinical Education. He is an instructor for the Advanced Paediatric Life Support.

“Steve has, for many years, played a key role in the ongoing development of Rotorua as a teaching site for undergraduate students,” said Dr Bagg.  “He is held in high esteem by his colleagues in New Zealand, but carries that prestige with great humility.   He is a very hard worker and has actively engaged in reinvigoration of our curriculum.”

Dr Bradley’s active participation in the changes within the paediatrics discipline was highly valued, he said.

“He draws on a wealth of experience and understanding of educational principles in his teaching and is a highly regarded teacher, said Dr Bagg.

In 2012 his team received two teaching awards; 'The Lakes DHB Clinical Teaching Award, and Rotorua Paediatrics the 'Most Supportive Clinical Team'   (voted by students of MBChB 5 class).

“That year Steve himself received a 'Distinguished Clinical Teacher Award' from the School of Medicine.  In 2014 he volunteered to be filmed for the crucial Mini CEX calibration videos, a role few other academics would put their hands up for. This is a further illustration of how Steve is a wonderful role model to other academics, clinical teachers and students,” he said.

The final Dennis Pickup Award recipient for 2015 was the Director of Nursing at Waikato District Health Board, Sue Hayward for her extraordinary leadership in nursing education and she was introduced by the acting Head of the School of Nursing, Associate Professor Nici Sheridan.

“Sue is a Registered Nurse with a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Management and Masters in Health Sciences who has, since 2008, been the Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Waikato District Health Board.  She is also the executive sponsor of the Bachelor of Nursing Honours programme within the DHB.”

In 2013, Waikato DHB, recognising the need to focus on investing in our future nursing leaders, started working with the University of Auckland on a programme that would allow newly graduated nurses to not only complete an Honours degree, but also participate in a high level supervision and mentoring programme.  

“This programme has, from day one benefitted from Sue’s exceptional oversight,” said Dr Sheridan. “There is no doubt that the programme would not have been possible without her guidance, commitment and sponsorship.”

“To redirect education funds away from experienced nurses to new graduates was a brave call and one which she undertook willingly. Sue continues to provide one-on-one and group sessions with the students and is heavily involved in the development and selection of their research topics.”

“For many years Sue has been very active in nursing education across the DHB particularly in relation to leadership and clinical nursing practice,” she said.  “Sue’s interaction with the University and this programme in particular, has led to the programme being seen as a Waikato DHB initiative.”

Professor Reid introduced the Butland Awards with some background to the history of the award.

In 1964, four years before our first medical class started at the University of Auckland, the University received an endowment of 40,000 pounds from food manufacturer and philanthropist, Sir Jack Richard Butland.

The aim of this endowment was to establish a Medical Foundation to advance medicine on a broad spectrum within New Zealand and in a specific sense to ensure the planned medical school had the best teaching talent it could attract.

Jack Butland was a self-made millionaire who developed the iconic Chesdale brand and pioneered the small packaging and retailing of dairy products in New Zealand.  Jack Butland was a leading public benefactor of his day and in today’s terms his endowment would be the equivalent of many millions of dollars.

“This evening we acknowledge those who have been identified as providing exemplary teaching and support to their students within the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences with the Butland Teaching Excellence Awards, said Professor Reid.

The 2015 Butland Award for Early Career Excellence in Teaching was made to Dr Max Petrov from the School of Medicine and recognized his teaching excellence and innovation in the Faculty.  These awards were attended by Debbie and Grant Cathrow from the Butland Family and made by Trustee Dr Jock Carnachan.

“Max joined the Department of Surgery in 2011 as a Senior Lecturer and since his appointment he has been an enthusiastic and willing participant in a wide range of activities within the Department,” said Professor Reid.

“Despite a relatively short period of teaching, Max has achieved record of excellence in teaching, research supervision, and leadership.  His innovative approaches to inducting PhD students caught the attention of the awards committee.”

“Soon after his appointment, he proposed the introduction of a research induction seminar for new PhD and Masters Students in the Department of Surgery,” he said. “Max was given responsibility for developing and introducing this course and it has grown over the last three years, rapidly becoming a whole School of Medicine programme that continues to grow in numbers and in the maturity of content.  The programme has received excellent reviews from attendees.”

This year Dr Petrov brought in further innovation with the introduction of the Science Café, where postgraduate students can develop relationships with more senior researchers in the Faculty. More than 40 students attend not only from the School of Medicine, but also from Liggins and the Schools of Medical Sciences, Population Health, and Nursing. The initiative has been an outstanding success.

“Max is deeply committed to postgraduate and undergraduate supervision,” said Professor Reid. “In just over three years since he was appointed he has supervised or is supervising more than 10 PhD, Masters, and Honours students.”

“ His skill in this endeavour is already evident with several high quality publications from his students and many winning awards for their endeavours. Four out of the five of his Masters and Honours students have graduated with First Class Honours,” he said.  “ Max has shown that he teaches to an excellent standard and he has shown huge promise as an emerging leader within the School of Medicine.  He is a worthy recipient of this 2015 award.”

The Butland Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovation was awarded to Senior Lecturer, Dr Phillipa Malpas from the School of Medicine.

“Phillipa has made an outstanding contribution to the innovative teaching of ethics to our medical students following her appointment to the Department of Psychological Medicine,” said Professor Reid.  “Phillipa has innovated through curriculum and assessment development to achieve truly novel teaching and course design in the areas of ethics and medical humanities.”

“Her approach to teaching ethics engages medical student's right from the early years, capturing their curiosity and excitement about the ethical dimension of medicine,” he said.  “Content draws on clinicians' experiences and knowledge, case studies, student's own experiences, and topical issues within society.”  “Recognising that ethical thinking can be confounding for many students, she has developed an innovative ethical 'toolkit' to help students reason their way through ethical and medico-legal challenges.”

Building on the early teaching in the medical programme Phillipa turned her attention to the year five curriculum and developed an "Ethics Report” that is completed by senior students.  In the report students are encouraged to reflect critically on ethical aspects arising from their clinical experiences.  

“The feedback from students demonstrates how profoundly doing this work affects many of them,” said Dr Reid. “Phillipa has taken students’ work in these reports an important step further.  She recognized a number of common themes emerging in student writing, in particular in the broad area of consent.”

“This led Phillipa to work with a range of stakeholders including chief medical officers, the Health and Disability commissioner, medical student groups and her colleagues in Auckland and Otago to develop a national consensus document on medical students and informed consent – the first such document in the world.”

“The novelty and reach of Phillipa’s innovations make her a very worthy recipient of this award,” said Professor Reid.

The Butland Award for Excellence in Research Supervision recognises and rewards a long-term, consistent or broad contribution to research supervision at the Faculty, and this year went to Professor Paul Donaldson from the School of Medical Sciences.

“Through his excellent supervisory practices Paul has played a significant and influential role in shaping the careers of many emerging scientists,” said Professor Reid.  “Paul has directed a large, successful research group based at FMHS since 1996 when he was appointed to the Department of Physiology.”

“Over the 19 years since then he has enjoyed many successes, attributable to his forward-thinking approach to research, and his ability to build and maintain a strong research group,” he said.  “He has been able to maintain this research group in part due to the excellence of his supervision and mentorship. It is a hallmark of Paul’s research group that several of his students have worked with him over extended periods of time.”

The awards panel was impressed by the ‘joined up’ strategic thinking that underpins Paul’s recruitment and development of future research students.  From his earliest interactions with undergraduates, summer students and the like Professor Donaldson fosters strong, positive relationships, welcoming and encouraging new members of the group to become ‘part of the team’, recognising and celebrating their achievements and successes.

“Paul learns about his students and tailors his supervision to get the best out of each of them,” said Professor Reid.  “Like winners of this award in the past, Paul always has the student’s career development at the forefront of his supervision style and provides networking and conference opportunities to all his lab members, including students.”

“Paul’s approach ensures that research students work in an inclusive lab environment of fun, friendship and research excellence,” he said.  “He is an inspirational teacher to his students, a role model to younger scientists and a natural leader. The positive impact he has had on many students over the years, both personally and professionally make him a worthy recipient of this award,”

Associate Professor Mark Barrow, said the Butland Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence recognizes and rewards a long term, consistent or broad contribution to teaching excellence in the Faculty.

“This year two nominations exemplified the excellence we seek,” said Associate Professor Peter Barrow.  “After a lot of deliberation the panel approached the Dean who agreed that two awards be made and I’m sure you will agree that both are well deserved.”

The first Butland Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence went to Peter Riordan from the School of Medical Sciences.

“Peter was appointed in 2000 to help support the growth in Biomedical Science teaching,” said Dr Barrow. “He arrived with an outstanding command of IT technologies and this expertise (alongside a broad portfolio of skills) has been a major contributor to the success of the very large classes that are a feature of Medical Science teaching.”

“Managing student numbers in the thousands is a real art as one needs to make sure that the students not only have all the information they need, but that they still feel important as individuals and can approach their lecturers. Peter achieves this with ease.”

“In 2005 Peter stepped up and took on additional teaching for both MEDSCI 201 students and Year II MBChB student”, he said. “It was in this role that Peter really stood out as a superb teacher - it was as if ‘he had found his true calling’”

“Since that time Peter has expanded and advanced his teaching and involvement in gross anatomy and when the opportunity arose, he took on the role of Laboratory Manager of the Human Anatomy Laboratory and has overseen the entire refurbishment of this unique and highly specialised facility.”

“The panel was impressed by Peter’s humble approach, deriving satisfaction from working alongside students to enhance their learning, providing additional assistance and opportunities for further learning wherever he can.  His students value Peter highly, and this shone through in the nomination,” said Dr Barrow.

The second Sustained Teaching Excellence Award was made to Associate Professor Warwick Bagg.

“Since his appointment in 2000 Warwick has been a leader in the development and delivery of the medical programme; his contribution to teaching has been sustained, consistent and broad,” said Dr Barrow. “Warwick stepped up quickly from the core teaching role to lead the Year six Medicine attachment, then Phase three as a whole.”

“During this time Warwick led the development of the Year Five Pūkawakawa programme,” he said. “Despite time-pressured development, this programme has run like clockwork from the start and has become an exemplar for immersion programmes in Australasia, with tangible workforce benefits.”

“We all know Warwick as the Head of the Medical Programme.  His exemplary leadership of the programme, through a recent period of redevelopment is recognised here.  Of Warwick’s multiple roles in the reinvigoration of the MBChB, perhaps the most outstanding example of his leadership was the introduction of Progress Testing.”

“This was a radical idea for Auckland and Auckland is the first programme in Australasia to use it,” said Dr Barrow. “Warwick steered the introduction with considerable patience and persistence working to gain acceptance by staff and students drawing on the experience of other institutions and the evidence in the literature to assist him.”

“Despite his role as Head of the Medical Programme Warwick continues to lecture the fourth and fifth year medical students, supervises senior medical students, and does ‘beside tutorials’ with medical students completing clinical attachments at Auckland City Hospital,” he said.  “He shows a genuine interest and curiosity in his students’ approach to learning and in the development of every individual medical student.”

“Warwick is seen by his students as excellent and empathetic teacher, communicator, mediator, and by the staff in the programme as an inspirational leader of change,” said Dr Barrow.

A ‘one size fits all’ approach to healthcare is being called into question by a researcher at Victoria University of Wellington, who says the immune systems of Māori and Pasifika people are very different from those with European ancestry.

Molecular geneticist Dr Geoff Chambers, who is an alumnus researcher at Victoria’s School of Biological Sciences, says the findings are the latest to come out of a research project that has so far spanned 25 years.

Dr Chambers’ earlier investigations identified genetic markers that traced the origin of Austronesian people (Polynesian, Māori, Melanesian, Micronesian and people from parts of South East Asia) back to Taiwan. His work also used molecular methods for forensic identification and as indicators for a range of diseases, including alcoholism and diabetes.

New data from his ongoing research shows that Māori and Pasifika people are genetically distinct from Europeans. “It goes some way to explaining why some autoimmune diseases that are relatively common in people of European descent—such as multiple sclerosis—are virtually unheard of among Māori and Pasifika,” says Dr Chambers. “It also partly explains why diseases such as type-2 diabetes are more common in Māori or Pasifika people.”

Dr Chambers says the findings highlight an existing inequity in medical treatment. “Medicine today is an increasingly genetic field of knowledge,” he says. “Many new drugs have been developed by Europeans for Europeans, but if we are to deliver these advances effectively to Māori and Pasifika people then we need new information, which we must uncover ourselves. This requires knowing something about their genetic make-up.”

Dr Chambers says the research has implications for the public health system. “It’s really important for organisations like the bone marrow registry to know that the immune system markers are different, in order to increase the number of matched donors and help improve the outcome of transplants.

“The important underlying message is that the research demonstrates very clearly that genes which are important in medical genetics have a whole different repertoire in Māori and Pasifika people than they do in Europeans—we need to take account of that to ensure we have equity in medicine.”

Dr Chambers has recently been reporting back on his findings directly to Māori and Pasifika groups so that the information can be shared throughout the communities, and as a gesture of gratitude towards the original volunteer participants.

The outstanding contributions of five up-and-coming University of Otago academics have been recognised through Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research.

Dr Anitra Carr (Pathology, Christchurch), Dr Jörg Hennig (Mathematics & Statistics), Dr Karl Iremonger (Physiology), Dr Sheri Johnson (Zoology) and Dr Logan Walker (Pathology, Christchurch) have been selected for the award on the basis of their outstanding research achievements.

Their research spans diverse topics including the role of micronutrients in human health and disease, the field of general relativity, the effect of chronic stress on the brain, genetic and environmental effects on behaviour and reproduction, and genetic factors underlying breast cancer.

Announcing this year’s recipients, University of Otago Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) Professor Richard Blaikie warmly congratulated the five researchers, saying their impressive records are a reflection of the calibre of research being undertaken at Otago.

“Even at this early stage in their careers, these accomplished researchers are making remarkable contributions in their respective fields and within the University. Such achievements mean they are well positioned to be among Otago’s future research leaders,” Professor Blaikie says.

The Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research were introduced in 2004 to recognise and nurture the University’s most promising early career researchers. Each recipient will receive $5000 to support their research and scholarly development.

Recipients also become members of the University’s O-Zone Group of early-to-mid-career researchers. O-Zone undertakes activities to promote interdisciplinary thinking and collaborations and to present a positive, clear, innovative, and independent voice for research within the University and beyond.

About the recipients:

Dr Anitra Carr

Dr Anitra Carr

Dr Anitra Carr is a Senior Research Fellow and Centre Co-ordinator for the Centre for Free Radical Research, Department of Pathology, University of Otago, Christchurch. After completing her PhD at the Christchurch School of Medicine, Dr Carr obtained an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship which she undertook at the Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, USA. Her research focused on oxidative stress, antioxidants and cardiovascular disease, and resulted in a number of high-impact publications in the field. Dr Carr’s work in the USA contributed to the recommended daily intake for vitamin C being increased and thus has had an impact on public health policy.

Since returning to the University of Otago, Christchurch, Dr Carr has managed a number of human intervention studies investigating the bioavailability and potential health effects of vitamin C. Dr Carr is currently researching the role of vitamin C in acute and chronic disease, such as cancer, and recently obtained a Freemasons Carrell-Espiner Research Fellowship to begin research into the role of vitamin C in severe infection and sepsis, the major cause of mortality in critically ill patients. Dr Carr hopes that her research will have a direct impact on people’s health and lives.

Dr Jörg Hennig

Dr Jörg Hennig

Dr Jörg Hennig is a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics where his research in applied mathematics and mathematical physics focuses on general relativity, i.e. Albert Einstein's theory of gravitation. Dr Hennig was appointed in 2011 after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam and, before that, a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Jena, Germany.

Dr Hennig's research is concerned with cosmological models, properties of black holes and the application of highly-accurate numerical methods to problems in general relativity. Currently, his main goal is a deeper understanding of unusual cosmologies. In these models, causality breaks down and the present state does not determine all of the future. Moreover, an observer could travel along a closed curve that brings one back to the same point in space and time from where one started, which would be genuine time travel. While such models are compatible with the equations of general relativity, they are believed to be unphysical. Dr Hennig's research aims to find out whether such solutions could be realised in our real universe, which would require them to have certain stability properties. This is also the topic of his current Marsden Fast-Start Grant “Causality and Cosmological Models”.

Dr Karl Iremonger

Dr Karl Iremonger

Dr Karl Iremonger initially completed a BSc (Physiology) and a Bachelor of Physical Education (Hons) at the University of Otago. He then moved to the University of Calgary, Canada, where he completed a MSc and PhD in Neuroscience. In 2010 he returned to Otago to undertake postdoctoral research investigating the structure and function of brain cells which control fertility. Dr Iremonger took up an appointment as a Lecturer in the Department of Physiology at Otago in 2014.

Last year, he was awarded the Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize as well as a Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship.

Dr Iremonger is a Principle Investigator in the Centre for Neuroendocrinology and the Brain Health Research Centre. He currently runs an independent research programme focused on understanding how brain cells control the body’s response to stress.

Dr Sheri Johnson

Dr Sheri Johnson

Dr Sheri Johnson is a Lecturer in the Department of Zoology. She moved to New Zealand to take up a postdoctoral position in the Department of Anatomy in 2010 and rapidly established a strong line of independent research at Otago, notably on the effects of age on fertility traits in zebrafish and humans. She was subsequently appointed a Research Fellow (Anatomy) and fixed-term Lecturer (Zoology), before commencing her current role.

Dr Johnson has broad interests in ecology, evolution and behaviour and her ability to initiate, manage and lead multiple projects is one of her key strengths. In just over a year at Otago she obtained a Marsden Fast-Start grant, and was successful in obtaining competitive grants from the National Geographic Society and the University of Otago. She has actively been developing collaborations within Otago, the wider NZ science community, and overseas. Her work has also attracted the interest of the media around the world and locally.

Dr Johnson’s goal is to lead a happy, productive, and internationally renowned research group at the cutting edge of behavioural ecology, behavioural genetics and behavioural epigenetics, and to help grow the rapidly developing field of behavioural epigenetics at the Otago and beyond.

Dr Logan Walker

Dr Logan Walker

Dr Logan Walker is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of Otago, Christchurch. He joined the University as a Research Fellow in 2011 after four years post-doctoral training at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia. In 2012, he was awarded the Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship from the Health Research Council. He has been the Principal Investigator on multiple research grants from agencies, such as the Cancer Society of New Zealand and Lottery Health Research.

Dr Walker’s research aims to evaluate the clinical significance of genetic variants associated with cancer risk and development. He leads multiple projects within two international consortia to advance diagnostic tools used for screening individuals at high-risk of cancer. He established the first New Zealand node for these consortia to assess genetic factors in New Zealand women in relation to breast and ovarian cancer risk and to support a multidisciplinary approach to informed decision-making in health practice. His published research has contributed to the clinical categorisation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 sequence variants for breast/ovarian cancer families worldwide, leading directly to an improvement in the clinical management of patients and their family members.

Research into cutting edge cell reprogramming that will help develop drugs in the fight against Huntington disease, has just had a boost of one million dollars.

The grant of $1.19 million over three years from the Health Research Council to University of Auckland neuroscientist Associate Professor Bronwen Connor will, if successful, enable new drug targets to be identified for trial development.

This funding will enable DrConnor and her team to understand Huntington’s disease better and investigate differences in genes and proteins, and brain cell development and function between normal and Huntington’s disease patients using live human brain cells.

“By doing this, we hope to identify cell targets that may lead to new drug development,” says Dr Connor who is based in the University’s Centre for Brain Research.  “The last step of the project is collaboration with Griffith University in Brisbane at the Eskitis Institute that has a natural drug compound library of more than 200,000 compounds.

“If we can identify some targets in the live human Huntington disease brain cells, we are going to use these cells to screen drugs, potentially to identify new compounds that we could then take further forward into drug development,” she says.  “The beauty of that are these targets and compounds will be tested on human cells, not on animal cells or on engineered human cells lines.  That will mean a much more precise result and hopefully faster and more successful translation to clinical use.”

In 2007 Shinya Yamanaka working at the University of Kyoto, developed a unique cell technology that takes human skin cells (or fibroblasts), and ’reprogrammes‘ them back to an embryonic-like stem cell state (induced pluripotent stem cells).  (Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 2013).

That was an advance on using embryonic stem cells, but that approach has the same issues as working with pluripotent stem cells.  Both embryonic stem cells and pluripotent stem cells are innately unstable - they can turn into all different types of cells including the potential to turn into cancer cells and cause tumours.

“On the one hand it's unique and exciting work because the pluripotent skin cells can turn into all different cell and tissue types, but we are looking for a clinical application,” says Dr Connor  “If you wanted to use those cells for cell or tissue replacement, the pluripotency is an issue.  We need to make sure that for clinical application, the cells are at the mature stage where they lose that pluripotency.”

"This is the issue that embryonic stem cell technology is facing and the reason why it has not gone into the clinic as fast as everyone thought," she says.  “It's because nobody has yet managed to completely purify these - the pluripotent cells of either the reprogrammed skin cells or the embryonic stem cells.

“We want to work with brain stem cells that are multi-potent, so that they will only turn into brain cells and so we are using a technology called direct cell reprogramming.”

The first technology that was developed in direct reprogramming for neuroscience was taking skin cells and directly turning them into mature neurons.

"It's pretty incredible to go from one mature cell type to another,” says Dr Connor.  “The issue around that is of course that a mature cell can’t proliferate at all.  If you only get ten percent of your cells turning into a mature neuron, then that’s all you have got to work with, so it’s not very efficient and there are issues around how much research you can do."

Dr Connor wanted something in between the two techniques and so she and her team identified two genes which are involved in brain development - one known as Pax6  (the first gene to come up during development when the neural tube forms), and the other called Sox2 (which is also involved in forming brain cells and involved in stem cell function as well).

 "We have generated this technology now where we can put Sox2 and Pax6 into adult human skin cells and generate brain stem cells which we call neural precursor cells.  From those cells we can generate different types of mature brain cells.  That’s taken us about three years to get up and going.

“There are two areas where this research can be used.  One is for cell replacement therapy - replacing brain cells that have been lost through disease-  in this case brain diseases where there is a specific population of cells lost, (such as Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease) and we can target that population of cells.”

The second area is to study neurological diseases to further understand what causes them and potentially to identify new drug targets.

“We can use skin cells from patients with genetic disorders such as Huntington’s disease, because that genetic mutation is in all the cells of that patient, but only shows up as a functional deficit in the brain cells,” says Dr Connor.

“We can take those cells from a simple skin biopsy and we can reprogramme them using Sox2 and Pax6 to become a brain stem cell,” she says.  “Our preliminary data already shows that we can compare brain stem cells from a patient with Huntington’s disease to a patient who is neurologically normal and detect differences.

“We have seen right from the start of brain stem cell development, that there are already genetic defects,” says Dr Connor.  “Some cells are already altered, even at that early stage of development.

 “Although Huntington’s disease is a genetic disorder, you tend not to see the onset until patients are about 40-50 years old, so it’s a disease we see later in life,” says Dr Connor.  “However the genetic changes are there and the cells are impaired, right from the word go.

“This reprogramming process starts to give us an idea about what the mutation is doing in the developing cell,” she says.  “We also see how the cell matures and how it functions.  These live human brain cells give us the capability of observing this development, and also to observe the function and vulnerability of live human GABAergic medium spiny neurons which are the ones that are lost in Huntington’s disease.”

“In our preliminary work using reprogrammed brain stem cells generated from Huntington’s disease patients, we showed that there are some genes in Huntington’s disease that were hugely over-expressed compared to neurologically-normal subjects”, says Dr Connor.  “They are genes that are also involved in forming a mature GABAergic neuron, suggesting the development process in Huntington’s disease was altered and the cells may be maturing too fast.

She says this technology enables her team to look at the disease pathogenesis – something they can’t do specifically in humans until now.At present, the only technology researchers can do that with is transgenic animals or zebrafish.  The only human material they could use is post mortem human tissue which is usually at an end-stage usually.

Dr Peter Saxton, Director of the Gay Men's Sexual Health Research Group (GMRG) at the University of Auckland, is celebrating the group's two year anniversary.

The GMRG was established in 2013 with seeding grants from the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF) and UniServices Ltd. It aims to promote research into HIV and sexual health among gay, bisexual, takataapui, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in New Zealand.

Dr Saxton received a HRC Emerging Researcher First Grant in 2010 while at the University of Otago for an investigation into undiagnosed HIV in a community sample of gay men. The study found that 21 per cent of those infected were not aware that they had HIV. The paper from this study was highly accessed and the findings received widespread news coverage when they were released in 2012 (e.g. New Zealand Herald,One News).

Dr Saxton rates the HIV behavioural research programme as one of the group's significant achievements to date. It has the largest database of sexual partnering among gay and bisexual males in New Zealand, and is well regarded internationally.

The Gay Auckland Periodic Sex Survey (GAPSS) and Gay men’s Online Sex Survey (GOSS) are anonymous repeat cross-sectional programmes that monitor trends in HIV risk behaviours among gay, bisexual, takataapui, and other men who have sex with men in New Zealand.

The surveys are funded by the Ministry of Health and undertaken collaboratively by the University of Auckland, the University of Otago’s AIDS Epidemiology Group, and the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.

Read more about the GMRG on the University of Auckland's website.

Massey University researchers in the College of Health have been awarded almost $4 million in the 2015 Health Research Council’s Funding round.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Paul McDonald says the funding will go towards four diverse research projects tackling some of the most pressing health challenges facing New Zealand and the world.

Investigating gut microbiomes in women:
Chair in Nutrition Professor Bernhard Breier has been awarded almost $1.2 million over three years to investigate the gut microbiome – the mass of bacteria residing in the human gut - in women of Pasifika and New Zealand European descent in the fight against obesity. 

Tantalising new evidence suggests that microbial complexity and functionality in the gut may play a crucial role in obesity. Professor Breier and a team from Massey University, and the Universities of Auckland and Otago, will test whether diet, taste perception, sleep and physical activity can modify the gut microbiome and its impact on obesity.

Enabling participation for children with disabilities:
Professor Karen Witten has been awarded almost $800,000 over three years for research into how built environments, amenities and social environments create barriers for children and young people with disabilities. 

In association with non-governmental organisations in the disability sector, Professor Witten will work with children and young people with motor and sensory impairments and their families to understand their experiences in the public realm using a range of methods across diverse Auckland neighbourhoods.

How airway micro-organisms affect children with asthma:
Childhood asthma is a complex condition which could lead to more severe asthma or other conditions in later life. Professor Jeroen Douwes has been awarded nearly $1.2 million over four years to investigate which airway micro-organisms are associated with lung function deficits and non-allergic inflammation in childhood asthma in 240 New Zealand children. It is the fifth consecutive project Professor Douwes has had funded by the Health Research Council.

Improving outcomes for injured New Zealanders:
Last year the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) spent $1.8 billion and received 1.8 million injury claims. Of those claims, 28 per cent have been identified as subsequent injury claims. Associate Professor Sarah Derrett has been awarded almost $600,000 over two years for a Subsequent Injury Study to identify if interventions can be developed for people who suffer a re-injury or identify as being “accident prone”.

“These projects are representative of the cutting edge, applied science we are conducting across the College of Health at Massey University,” said Pro Vice-Chancellor Paul McDonald.

“Our top scientists and students are using their talents and novel ideas to solve the 21st century’s biggest health challenges such as obesity, asthma and disability. Winning such a high proportion of the HRC project grants shows our growing strength and ability to look at issues in groundbreaking ways.”

Thirty-three researchers from across New Zealand received a combined total of more than $34.5 million in project funding in the Health Research Council’s 2015 funding round.

The initial phase of the application process will be hosted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE). Interested applicants will be required to register an Expression of Interest via the MBIE application portal.

To find out more, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-media/news/nz-china-non-communicable-diseases-collaborations

The paper is available to read in free full text at:  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.150012

Momin B, Neri A, Goode SA, Sarris Esquivel N, Schmitt CL, Kahende J, et al. (2015). Factors involved in the collaboration between the national comprehensive cancer control programs and tobacco control programs: A qualitative study of 6 states, United States, 2012. Preventing Chronic Disease, 12:150012. 

They "... identified two types of study objectives (trend and policy/intervention) and three types of model outcomes (change in tobacco use behavior, change in tobacco-related morbidity or mortality, and economic impact). Eighteen models were used across 118 studies". The authors discuss the implications of their findings for future research.

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntv104 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

Feirman, S.P., et al. (2015). Mathematical modeling in tobacco control research: Initial results from a systematic review. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 14 May [Epub before print]

AGITG research is multi-disciplinary and the membership represents all the relevant disciplines: medical oncology, surgery, radiation oncology, biology, pathology, statistics and study coordination.  

To find out more, go to:  http://www.agitg.asnevents.com.au/

The goal of the NDLR conferences is to bring together scientists and clinicians to discuss emerging paradigms and breakthroughs at the forefront of leukaemia research and treatment, from the molecular basis of leukaemia to new therapies emerging in the clinic.

To find out more, go to:  http://ndlr2016.com/

To find out more, go to:  http://www.communitymatters.govt.nz/Funding-and-grants---Trust-and-fellowship-grants---New-Zealand-Winston-Churchill-Memorial-Trust

University of Otago researchers have gained nearly $2.2M in funding from the Lottery Grants Board to support studies aimed at improving the health status of New Zealanders.

The grants support the purchase of research equipment, scholarships, and the pursuit of research projects aimed to translate into meaningful health outcomes and community benefit.

Researchers from across the University’s three main campuses in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington have received 19 translational research grants, 10 equipment grants, two postdoctoral scholarships and two PhD scholarships. A full list appears below.

Nationally, around $3.8M, comprising 64 grants, was distributed in the Lottery Health Research 2014/2015 funding round.

Otago’s translational projects involve a wide variety of health-related topics ranging from using whole-genome sequencing to rapidly diagnose drug-resistant tuberculosis strains to investigating whether improving homes could prevent children from suffering strep throat and rheumatic fever.

Also among the projects are studies on topics such as New Zealand’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma epidemic, improving prediction of cardiovascular risk in the general populations. Others focus on areas including searching for a signature of aggressiveness in prostate cancer, and biomarkers that may predict Alzheimer’s disease progression.

Otago’s Lottery Health grants 2014/2015

Translational Research Projects:

Understanding the determinants of cerebral perfusion stability for improved neurocritical care
Mr Philip Allan (Surgery, University of Otago, Wellington)
$7,000

Benefits of nuts and seeds in the diets of postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes. The NuSeD Trial
Dr Alexander Chisholm (Human Nutrition)
$100,000

Whole genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates for rapid diagnosis and genotyping
Professor Greg Cook (Microbiology & Immunology)
$86,218

Epidemiological risk and epigenetics of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
Associate Professor Brian Cox (Preventive & Social Medicine)
$78,000

Improving the breast cancer journey for women with experience of mental illness
Dr Ruth Cunningham (Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington) 
$86,618

The effectiveness of a feedback device in changing occupational postural behaviour: a randomised controlled trial
Dr Daniel Cury-Rubiero (Physiotherapy)
$29,000

First steps towards non-invasive antenatal screening in New Zealand
Dr Sara Filoche (Primary Health Care & General Practice, University of Otago, Wellington)
$92,825

Search for a signature indicative of aggressive prostate cancer in tissue biopsies 
Dr Elspeth Gold (Anatomy)
$50,222

Measurement of mitochondrial dysfunction in human disease
Professor Mark Hampton (Pathology, University of Otago, Christchurch)
$59,166

Clozapine Therapy: Are dose adjustments required for Māori patients?
Dr Noelyn Hung (Pathology)
$30,000

Identification of persons with early signs of hip and knee osteoarthritis and the effect of intervention
Dr Prasath Jayakaran (Physiotherapy)
$37,110

Longitudinal investigation of sedentary behaviour patterns and its predictors among New Zealanders with high risk of developing chronic diseases
Mr Ramakrishnan Mani (Physiotherapy)
$7,709

Incidence and prevalence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in female netball players in New Zealand and identification of factors in which they occur.
Dr Meredith Perry (Physiotherapy)
$18,712

Improving cardiovascular risk prediction in the general population
Dr Anna Pilbrow (Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch)
$96,221

Youth health interagency collaboration: identifying the best ways to work together to provide effective and accessible health care to young people in New Zealand
Associate Professor Susan Pullon (Primary Health Care & General Practice, University of Otago, Wellington)
$58,884

Acceptability and feasibility of a collaborative approach to improving partner notification and STI retesting rates in primary care
Dr Sally Rose (Primary Health Care & General Practice, University of Otago, Wellington)
$60,000

How food literate are New Zealand children?
Professor Murray Skeaff (Human Nutrition)
$35,000

Rapid detection of antibiotic resistance through LC-MS
Dr James Ussher (Microbiology & Immunology)
$41,008

The prognostic value of a novel Alzheimer’s disease-related composite biomarker signature
Dr Joanna Williams (Anatomy)
$120,000

Research Equipment grants:

Shared equipment for automated high throughput cell imaging
Dr Augustine Chen (Biochemistry)
$50,000

3dMDtrio Imaging System and software (for 3D imaging of the face)
Professor Mauro Farella (Oral Sciences)
$90,000

Automated Histology Autostainer Bond Max – Leica Biosystems or Biocare IntelliPATH Stainer 
Ms Amanda Fisher (Pathology, Dunedin)
$100,000

Ultracentrifuge rotor and PCII hood
Associate Professor Merilyn Hibma (Pathology, Dunedin)
$14,050

Proto-Tech Thermocycler Unit
Ms Wendy-Ann Jansen van Vuuren (Oral Rehabilitation)
$15,417

High speed, high sensitivity camera, (sCMOS), CoolLED UV LED-based light source
Dr Peter Jones (Physiology)
$50,000

Automated Protein Crystallography incubation and imaging facility
Professor Kurt Krause (Biochemistry)
$79,054

Lecia EM PACT2 high pressure freezer with a rapid transfer system
Associate Professor Dorothy Oorschot (Anatomy)
$100,000

Advanced Human Environmental Chamber
Dr Shieak Tzeng (Surgery, University of Otago, Wellington)
$40,754

Integrated preparative high pressure liquid chromatography (prep-HPCL0) system consisting of a binary pump, autosampler, column oven, variable wavelength UV-Vis detector and associated software
Dr Andrea Vernall (Pharmacy)
$19,275

Postdoctoral Fellowships:

The influence of systemic infection on post-stroke functional recovery
Dr Silke Neumann (Pathology, Dunedin)
$150,000

Cool? The insights and experiences of New Zealand youths living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty
Dr Kimberley O’Sullivan (Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington)
$150,000

PhD Scholarship:

Could improving homes prevent children developing GAS pharyngitis and rheumatic fever?
Ms Jane Oliver (Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington)
$120,000

Understanding how the host immune response improves patient prognosis in colorectal cancer
Ms Kirsten Ward-Hartstonge (Microbiology & Immunology)
$120,000

It will also support integration of research into clinical practice, provide a focus for the development of additional research within the health care environment, and promote translation of health research into practice.

To find out more, including dates for submissions, go to:   http://www.hrc.govt.nz/funding-opportunities/career-development#clinical-practitioner-research-fellowship

To find out more, including dates for submissions, go to: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/funding-opportunities/career-development#clinical-practitioner-research-fellowship

To find out more, including dates for submissions, go to: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/funding-opportunities/career-development#foxley-fellowship

To find out more, including dates for submissions, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/funding-opportunities/career-development#sir-charles-hercus-health-research-fellowship

The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) is gearing up to announce its 2015 funding results in early June. The HRC’s Chief Executive Dr Kathryn McPherson says that the really important news to note is the difference that funding awarded in previous years has achieved for New Zealand. 

“We recently undertook a survey of all the health-related research published by New Zealand researchers between 2005 and 2009,” says Dr McPherson. “The survey shows that New Zealand research is punching above its weight,” she says.

“The results of the survey identified that health research funded by the HRC has a significant impact around the world,” she says. HRC publications were cited at or above the world average for citation impact in every field.

“In a number of fields, research undertaken by HRC-funded researchers achieved double the world average for scientific influence - measured by the number of other studies which reference New Zealand research. For example in paediatrics and reproductive medicine, immunology, genetics and clinical sciences, with our articles achieving double the world average for citation impact.” The HRC’s health research achieved an impressive 20 per cent of publications ranked in the top 20th percentile worldwide, and one or more publication ranked in the top 1 per cent worldwide in a number of fields.

“Our findings indicate that our assessment processes result in exceptionally high quality work that makes a difference. The fact that our researchers are amongst the very best internationally is great for New Zealand for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps the most important one is because where there is high quality health research, all international data indicates there is better health for the population,” says Dr McPherson. 

Since our establishment in 1990 the quality of life for all New Zealanders, and the number of years we can expect to live free from disease and disability has improved significantly – New Zealand’s infant mortality rate has declined by 30 per cent, the disability among over 65 year olds has decreased by 13 per cent, life expectancy has increased by six years for males and three years for females, and survival rates from cancer have doubled since the 1970s. Our research and research teams have made many of these health gains possible.

“As we move towards celebrating 25 years of serving New Zealand this year, it is timely to recognise some of the world-first breakthroughs and significant health and economic impacts HRC-funded research has achieved, says Dr McPherson.

• We have had a tangible impact on the health of our homes and environment. The work of Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and her team proved the link between meningococcal disease and household overcrowding, while Professor David Fergusson as part of the Christchurch Longitudinal study established the link between passive smoking and respiratory illness, and the negative health impact of lead. Each of these findings has resulted in real changes to housing policy and the health of our homes; the regulation of smoking and the introduction of smokefree environments; and the removal of lead from our petrol.
• We have made world first discoveries with the identification of the mechanism causing kidney cancer in children (Professors Anthony Reeve and Parry Guilford); the discovery of stem cells in the brain and evidence that the human brain can repair itself by generating new brain cells (Professor Richard Faull and his team at the Centre for Brain Research); the identification of the gene associated with antisocial behaviour in males and the gene-environment interaction that predisposes adolescents smoking cannabis to develop adult psychosis (Professors Richie Poulton and David Fergusson and their teams at the Dunedin Multidisciplinary health and Development study and the Christchurch Health and Development Longitudinal study); and a novel peptide that identifies heart-failure at the earliest stage – this discovery has saved thousands of lives and led to the development of new treatment standards that are used the world-over (Professor Mark Richards and his team at the Christchurch Heart Institute).
• Our research has saved the lives of thousands of our babies and young people. Three babies in every 1000 live births survive each year because of HRC-funded research – 20 years ago these babies would have died from sudden unexplained death in infancy. At current birth rates, that’s 200 babies a year (Professor Ed Mitchell). The recent identification of target levels of oxygen for pre-term babies has also greatly improved survival rates of vulnerable babies (Professor Brian Darlow and his team), and HRC research leading to the national and subsequently international withdrawal of the high dose fenoterol inhaler medication to treat asthma in children, has saved tens of thousands of lives globally (Professors Neil Pearce and Richard Beasley).
• We have made valuable savings for the New Zealand taxpayer by identifying the right and most cost-effective treatments. HRC-funded research identified that prescribing calcium supplements to prevent osteoporosis increased the rate of cardiovascular events in older women which resulted not only in better health outcomes, but a 66 per cent reduction in calcium supplements prescribed, saving $3.9 million over 5 years, with annual savings likely to accrue into the foreseeable future (Professor Ian Reid). PREDICT software, an electronic decision-support tool for the prediction of cardiovascular risk has led to a significant reduction in health care costs, with District Health Boards estimating the cost-savings to our health system at $300 million a year (Professor Rod Jackson).
• Our research also generates direct economic returns through the development of innovative commercial products, where we have taken early discoveries all the way from patent to patient. These innovative products and treatments include a wireless heart-pump (Professor Simon Malpas); a cooling cap to prevent brain damage in pre-term babies (Professor Alistair Gunn); an award winning e-therapy for youth coping with depression (Professor Sally Merry); a new fast-track cardiac diagnostic tool which has halved unnecessary hospital admissions (Dr Martin Than); a new effective and low-cost treatment for neo-natal hypoglycaemia (Professor Jane Harding); a world-first vaccine for rotavirus; a diagnostic tool for bladder cancer (Professor Parry Guilford); and a new treatment for osteoporosis that is 10,000 times stronger than previously available drugs (Professor Ian Reid).

Dr McPherson says that “whilst there is more to be done, and important questions remain about how best to maintain health and get better outcomes for people with illness or injury, New Zealand has every reason to be proud of what its health researchers are achieving.”  

To find out more, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#call-for-liley-medal-nominations

For each trial, review or guideline, PEDro provides the citation details, the abstract and a link to the full text, where possible. All trials on PEDro are independently assessed for quality. 

PEDro is produced by the Centre for Evidence-Based Physiotherapy at The George Institute for Global Health.

http://www.pedro.org.au/

Their annual conference is being held at the Heritage Auckland. The focus is on the future and how to ensure research networks are optimally connected and highly skilled for what research looks like in future. 

To find out more about this event, go to:  http://www.nzacres2015.org.nz/

In the May 2015 issue of Ethics Notes (Health Research Council), an article addresses research, ethics and the challenge of social media.

http://www.hrc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/24017%20HRC%20Ethics_0515-online.pdf

"The top four research questions were 1) identifying nursing interventions that directly impact the child and family's experience during the withdrawal of life support, 2) evaluating the long-term psychosocial impact of a child's critical illness on family outcomes, 3) articulating core nursing competencies that prevent unstable situations from deteriorating into crises, and 4) describing the level of nursing education and experience in pediatric critical care that has a protective effect on the mortality and morbidity of critically ill children".

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0000000000000446 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

Tume, L., et al. (2015). Pediatric critical care nursing research priorities - Initiating international dialogue. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, 22 April [Epub before print]

In addition to this workshop, the HRC will also be holding a series of Pacific health research roadshows throughout New Zealand from 20 to 30 July. These roadshows will focus on the HRC's Pacific health research development awards, the assessment process, and information about the key features of completing the application form.

To find out more about the workshop and the roadshows, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#pacific-funding-proposals-workshop-and-roadshows

To read the full story and for information on how to complete a nomination, go to: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#hrc-assessing-committee-nominations-open

Entries have opened for the 2015 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes, which will award a total of $1 million to New Zealand’s top scientists and researchers.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says the prizes celebrate scientific achievement, highlight the impact science has on New Zealanders’ lives, and aim to attract more young people into science careers.  2015 is the seventh year the prizes will be presented.

A total of five prizes are awarded each year. The Prime Minister’s overall Science Prize of $500,000 will be awarded to an established scientist or team of scientists for a transformative discovery or achievement.  Other prizes will go to a top emerging scientist ($200,000), a leading science teacher ($150,000), a leading science communicator ($100,000), and a secondary school student who is excelling in science ($50,000).

“The prizes play a key role in delivering on the Government’s commitment to encourage more students into science and technology-based careers,” Mr Joyce says.

“They also aim to inspire our scientists by celebrating world-leading research occurring here in New Zealand which is vital for our economy, our society, and our international competitiveness.”

The 2014 winner of the Prime Minister’s Science Prize, the top award, was a 28-member team of scientists who have worked nationwide for more than 15 years to address issues related to poor-quality housing, particularly as it affects vulnerable groups such as children and those with chronic health conditions.

Top awards from previous years have been for work in the areas of inductive power transfer technology, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, superconductivity, climate change science, and food innovation.

Entries open today and can be lodged up until 31 July 2015. For more information: www.pmscienceprizes.org.nz

Professor Sharon Peacock is this year’s visiting Williams Evans Fellow and keynote speaker/McAuley Orator at the OIHRN conference. Professor Sharon Peacock is a leading expert in infectious diseases, Professor of Clinical Microbiology and Fellow of St John's College, University of Cambridge, Director of the Bloomsbury Research Institute (Sept. 2015), Honorary Consultant Microbiologist for the Health Protection Agency and the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, and holds an Honorary Faculty position at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

To find out more about this event, go to:  http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/events/otago090921.html

• types of contracts and assessment processes
• important closing dates and timelines
• changes to the online submission system
• a question and answers session

To find out locations and dates for the roadshows, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#hrc-roadshows-for-the-2016-funding-round

Drawing on the literature, the authors suggest that these tensions can arise from a lack of shared understanding of the goals of the evaluation; confusion about roles, relationships and responsibilities; data burdens; issues of data flows and confidentiality; the discomforts of being studied and the impact of disappointing or otherwise unwelcome results.

The authors present a possible approach to managing these tensions involving the co-production and use of a concordat. They describe how they developed a concordat in the context of an evaluation of a complex patient safety improvement programme known as Safer Clinical Systems Phase 2. The concordat development process involved partners (evaluators, designers, funders and others) working together at the outset of the project to agree a set of principles to guide the conduct of the evaluation.

The authors suggest that while the concordat is a useful resource for resolving conflicts that arise during evaluation, the process of producing it is perhaps even more important, helping to make explicit unspoken assumptions, clarify roles and responsibilities, build trust and establish open dialogue and shared understanding. They note that there is a need for recognition of the value of the process of co-producing a locally agreed concordat in enabling partners in the evaluation to work together effectively.

This is an open access article and is available to read in free full text at:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003732

Brewster, L., et al. (2015). What to expect when you're evaluating healthcare improvement: A concordat approach to managing collaboration and uncomfortable realities. BMJ Quality & Safety, 24, 318-324.

Te Hononga Pūkenga provides detailed information such as the academics and researchers expertise and research areas, projects they have worked on, their location and iwi, as well as a biography or CV and their contact details

Filtering the information overload for better decisions

Every day we are bombarded with an exponentially increasing quantity of information. In the background, data are being collected, stored, saved, and sometimes hidden in such quantities that our ability to process the data – to produce valid interpretations of its meaning or usefulness - cannot keep pace. Join us in discussing, debating, and creating solutions for making better health decisions in a world of information overload.

To find out more about this event, go to:   https://colloquium.cochrane.org/

WHO today issued a public statement calling for the disclosure of results from clinical trials for medical products, whatever the result. The move aims to ensure that decisions related to the safety and efficacy of vaccines, drugs and medical devices for use by populations are supported by the best available evidence.

“Our intention is to promote the sharing of scientific knowledge in order to advance public health,” said Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation. “It underpins the principal goal of medical research: to serve the betterment of humanity.”

“Failure to publicly disclose trial results engenders misinformation, leading to skewed priorities for both R&D and public health interventions,” said Dr Kieny. “It creates indirect costs for public and private entities, including patients themselves, who pay for suboptimal or harmful treatments.”

Unreported trials lead to misinformation

For example, in a study that analysed reporting from large clinical trials (more than 500 participants) registered on ClinicalTrials.gov and completed by 2009, 23% had no results reported. These unreported trials included nearly 300 000 participants. Among clinical trials of vaccines against 5 diseases registered in a variety of databases between 2006-2012, only 29% had been published in a peer-reviewed journal by the WHO recommended deadline of 24 months following study completion.

“We need the collaboration of all these actors to enforce transparency in their jurisdictions in order to increase the benefits and decrease the risks for patients, clinical trial volunteers and the general public,” concluded Dr Kieny.

International Clinical Trials Registry Platform furthers transparency

WHO’s call for disclosure includes older unreported clinical trials, the results of which may still have an important bearing on scientific research today. WHO also reaffirms the need for all clinical trials to be registered on a WHO primary clinical trial registry so that they can be accessible through the International Clinical Trials Registry platform. This will ensure transparency as to which clinical trials have occurred, and allow verification of compliance with public disclosure requirements.

The recent WHO move expands on a 2005 call for all clinical trials to be registered, and the subsequent establishment of the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. This registry platform regularly imports trial records from ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN registry, EU Clinical Trials Register, Australia New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry, Pan African Clinical Trial Registry and Clinical Trial Registries from China, India, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Cuba, Germany, Iran, Japan, Sri Lanka, The Netherlands and Thailand.

Researchers at the University of Auckland have published new findings on the discovery of a potential new drug target for the treatment of migraine.

The research by Associate Professor Debbie Hay and Research Fellow Dr Christopher Walker of the School of Biological Sciences is published in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

Migraine, a debilitating but common neurological disorder, has puzzled scientists for centuries and while drugs have been developed to treat it, for many people they are ineffective or have significant side effects.

Current strategies for developing new migraine treatments are based on the knowledge that people who suffer from the disorder have elevated levels of a pain-causing hormone called CGRP, or calcitonin gene-related peptide.

Migraine medication developed in recent years to block acute migraine attacks, a class of drugs called “gepants”, work by blocking CGRP activity at the CGRP receptor.

But Associate Professor Hay and Dr Walker believe the reason the gepants are less effective than was hoped is because their research shows that another receptor, called AMY1, also plays a critical role in CGRP activity during migraine attacks.

“We have discovered that CGRP activates a second target on the surface of pain-sensing nerve cells, called AMY1, which the gepants are not designed to block,” Associate Professor Hay says.

“This may be the key to treating migraine and opens the door for the design of new drugs that block this second target.”

“CGRP-blocking drugs have been the great hope in the treatment of migraine for a long time,” Dr Walker says. “It turns out there is a second receptor involved and this may be why the gepants are not as effective as we might have expected.”

More research is required into exactly how CGRP and AMY1 work in nerves that are involved in pain in the head.

“We need to try and understand how these two receptors are working together and exactly what role both play in migraine,” Associate Professor Hay says.

“But we are excited about the possibilities that AMY1 holds for treating migraine and even other types of pain,” adds Dr Walker.

Innovative research into Alzheimers, Huntingtons and Parkinsons disease at the University of Auckland will benefit from more than half a million dollars of funding from the Freemasons Roskill Foundation.

The Foundation has announced an award of $560,000 over the next four years to fund two Freemasons Doctoral Scholarships and a Freemasons Postdoctoral Fellowship to advance the innovative research on these diseases at the University’s Centre for Brain Research (CBR).

These doctoral and postdoctoral awards build on longterm funding over the past 10 years, generously provided by the Freemasons to advance brain research studies at the CBR and is of special significance for their 125^th Anniversary Celebration of Freemasonary in New Zealand.

A doctoral scholarship has been awarded to Carlene Newall from the University of Auckland National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries (NICAI).

Under the supervision of Associate Professor Ralph Black, Head of Dance Studies at NICAI and Professor Suzanne Purdy (Centre for Brain Research), Carlene will undertake innovative and challenging research studies on the potential of dance therapy to slow the disease progression of people affected by dementia and Alzheimers disease.

Recent international studies have strongly suggested that dance and music therapy can slow down the progression of Alzheimers disease, but this has never ever been established unequivocally through research, says CBR Director, Professor Richard Faull.

“If, through research, we could employ these and other types of novel therapies to help in slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimers disease and dementia by two or even five years, this would decrease the prevalence of Alzheimers and dementia by 20 or 50 percent respectively,” he says, “A greater proportion of the elderly would live a longer life free of the tragic consequences of this disease.

“This visionary project has the potential to entirely change the approach to treating and giving hope to patients with Alzheimers and dementia,” says Professor Faull.

A postdoctoral research fellowship has been awarded to Dr Malvindar Singh-Bains in the CBR to use state of the art high-throughput histochemical and automated tissue microarray analysis of Alzheimer’s cases in the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank.

She will work to identify specific markers of brain dysfunction which play a role in brain cell degeneration in this tragic disease.

Dr Singh-Bains recently graduated with a PhD on the neuropathology of the brain in Huntingtons disease, and brings a wealth of expertise to these studies on the Alzheimer’s human brain under the supervision of Professors Michael Dragunow and Faull.

“These studies will identify biomarkers which will be invaluable in testing and monitoring new therapeutic strategies for people affected by Alzheimers disease,” says Professor Faull.

A Doctoral scholarship has been awarded to Brittney Black in the CBR to undertake complex confocal laser scanning microscopic studies to identify chemical receptor changes in the human basal ganglia in Parkinsons and Huntingtons diseased tissue from the Human Brain Bank.

Her research to characterise novel chemical changes in the brain region most affected by these diseases will contribute to a better scientific understanding of brain cell death and open the way for the development of therapeutic interventions in these tragic human brain diseases, says Professor Faull.

“Brittney has recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science (honours) degree on the human basal ganglia in the normal human brain and has the ideal scientific background and expertise to undertake this challenging research,” he says.  Brittany’s research will be supervised by Associate Professor Henry Waldvogel and Professor Richard Faull.

The University of Canterbury Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research will be officially opened at Christchurch’s St George’s Hospital on Friday.

The centre is run by the University’s Associate Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee who says the rate of pneumonia in stroke patients has more than halved as a result of a novel cough test investigated by the Rose Centre.

Her work, combined with the efforts of clinicians in the district health board, has improved patient outcomes and reduced health care costs by more than $1.4 million and has supported a collaborative culture of research support for frontline clinicians.

The Rose Centre is a clinically-based stroke research and rehabilitation facility and was made possible by a donation from the Rose family through the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation. It was set up in recognition of the stroke research programme run by Associate Professor Huckabee and her Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory.  She is a world leader in cough-reflex and rehabilitation research of stroke patients.

The Rose Family Trust bequest of $450,000 has been supported by a donation of $250,000 from an anonymous benefactor to employ a clinical fellow in the centre and another $100,000 from the research foundation’s annual art and wine auction. 

“We are focusing on neuropathology and neuro-rehabilitation of swallowing impairment or dysphagia, with a particular emphasis on development of bioengineering applications for rehabilitation. Ultimately we hope to include therapies, such as physical and occupational therapy. 

“The centre is equipped with the latest biomedical and neural technologies for understanding and visualising swallowing processes. These technologies, when applied to rehabilitation, enable the capacity for change in swallowing function.

“Patients recovering from stroke and other neurological disorders have the opportunity to benefit from - and contribute to - the latest research on the diagnosis and treatment of swallowing disorders. Patients volunteer to participate in world-leading research which helps contribute to ongoing improved understanding of dysphagia and its treatment. Patients are receiving ongoing specialist clinical services.”

Associate Professor Huckabee has co-authored two textbooks on swallowing impairment following neurological impairment, 10 book chapters on topics related to rehabilitation and 51 peer-reviewed scientific articles in various dimensions of dysphagia. 

Centre director Associate Professor Huckabee is one of five keynote speakers at an international stroke rehabilitation conference in Christchurch next month. The May 10 to 12 conference is being hosted by the Rose Centre.

The refresh will look at ways the government can maximise the contribution of HRC in line with broader health and economic goals.

For further information about the process, go to:  http://www.mbie.govt.nz/what-we-do/health-research-council-strategic-refresh

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Education
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We raise awareness about the challenges faced by people with diabetes and the action
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We support research into diabetes. Diabetes New Zealand is a national charity that represents people with diabetes. Our vision is that all people with diabetes in New Zealand are the best managed in the world and have the best access to health care.

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• key concepts in spreading ideas
• evidence on what is known about what works to spread improvement
• practical suggestions for planning your communications, engaging the right people, sustaining interest in the work and celebrating and sharing achievements.

Read the quick guide: Using communications to spread improvement

Read the quick guide: Evaluation – what to consider

The Fellowship provides an opportunity for those working for and associated with Nurse Maude to undertake research and development projects which are of application and benefit to Nurse Maude, its consumers and community based health care. Funding up to NZ $30,000 is available annually. 

Applications open on 31 January and close on 31 July each year.

To find out more, go to:  http://www.nzichc.org.nz/What+we+do/Nurse+Maude+Campbell+Ballantyne+Fellowship.html

To find out more about this event, go to:  http://www.midwife.org.nz/research/joan-donley-midwifery-research-collaboration/the-jdmrc-forum/

"Practitioners within the nursing profession have a marked preference for interactive and human sources of information. They habitually associate information seeking with professional development rather than with clinical practice. Lack of time is the most frequently reported problem; also, they frequently lack confidence in searching and appraising the professional literature and in applying research in practice. Cultural factors may inhibit information seeking in the workplace, and access to appropriate information technology may be limited".

The authors discuss the implications of these findings.

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/NLW-07-2014-0085 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

Ebenezer, C. (2015). Nurses’ and midwives’ information behaviour: A review of literature from 1998 to 2014. New Library World, 116(3/4), 155-172.

For more information, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#call-for-beaven-medal-nominations

Māori Development Minister Hon Te Ururoa Flavell is proud to have launched Te Hononga Pūkenga – the Māori and Indigenous Researcher Directory today in Wellington.

“This online and interactive directory is a milestone in Māori scholarship. It gives Māori, public and private interests the opportunity to connect easily with some of the nation’s leading indigenous experts,” says Mr Flavell.

The new directory has been initiated by Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga – New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence.

To date, Ngā Pae has over 500 Māori doctorates working with whānau, hapū, iwi, Māori and indigenous communities around the country and internationally.

It has supported a diverse range of research projects crossing areas such as architecture and design, biology, biotechnology, business, economics, education, environment, health, law and media.

“Over the past decade Ngā Pae has made a huge contribution to the development and expansion of Māori and indigenous scholarship in Aotearoa and around the world.

“I encourage those in the public and private sector who are involved in policy development, community engagement

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman say the Government is keen to optimise the role of the Health Research Council (HRC).

“The HRC is an important component of New Zealand’s science and innovation system. It plays a valued role in supporting our high performing health research sector,” says Mr Joyce. 

“A review is needed to identify how we can optimise the valuable contribution of the HRC. We want to ensure the HRC continues to deliver the right outcomes for New Zealanders,” says Dr Coleman.

The Government’s draft National Statement of Science Investment (NSSI) sets out a long term strategy to maximise the contribution of science to New Zealand’s economic growth, prosperity, and wellbeing of New Zealanders.

“In line with the draft NSSI, this review will focus on maximising the contribution of the HRC in line with the Government’s broader health and economic goals. It will also ensure HRC funding and other relevant funding mechanisms are closely aligned,” says Mr Joyce.

“It is a matter of ensuring the right mix of research and economic outcomes, while ensuring New Zealand universities remain attractive places for our top research talent to work in.”

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Ministry of Health will jointly conduct the review.

“Both Ministries will meet with a range of stakeholders such as DHBs, clinicians, medical technology firms, Māori and Pacific stakeholders, and other funding agencies,” says Dr Coleman.

“We expect to receive the findings of the review later this year in June.”

Established under the Health Research Council Act 1990, the HRC is the Government’s principal funding agency for health research. It manages approximately $79 million of Government funds per year. 

Further information on the review can be found at: www.mbie.govt.nz/what-we-do/health-research-council-strategic-refresh.

Researchers from the University of Auckland are among many from throughout New Zealand taking part in the National Science Challenge to promote healthy ageing.

The National Science Challenges, initiated through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, are designed to tackle New Zealand's biggest science-based issues and challenges.

The University of Otago-led challenge will be partnered by the University of Auckland and other New Zealand universities, as well as Ag-research and the Centre for Research, Evaluation and Social Assessment (CRESA) in Wellington.

The University of Auckland’s involvement in the challenge is led by Professors Martin Connolly and Ngaire Kerse. Professor Connolly has led decades of geriatrics research with a focus on residential care quality, healthy ageing and avoidable hospital admissions for older people.  He is the Head of the Department of Geriatric Medicine and Assistant Dean for the University of Auckland’s Waitemata Clinical Campus. 

Professor Kerse is recognised as an international expert in the interrelated areas of maximising health for older people, research into falls in older people, and the potential impact of physical activity to prevent the development of disability.  She is also Head of the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health.

Initial funding for the Ageing Well challenge will be for $14.6 million for the first five years with a second tranche of funding for the following five years.

The Challenge will support high-quality, mission-led, interdisciplinary research focussed on five key strands:

• Enabling independence and autonomy/tino rangatiratanga of older individuals and their whānau and families

• Ensuring a meaningful life through social integration and engagement
• Recognising at a societal level the value of ongoing contributions of knowledge and experience of older people
• Reducing disability, and
• Developing age-friendly environments.

The challenge will be led by Professor David Baxter, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Physiotherapy at the University of Otago, and will be based out of the School's Centre for Health, Activity and Rehabilitation Research.

Professor Baxter says people are living longer now, with life expectancy in New Zealand having gone up by around 20 years since 1901, pushing life expectancy for men into the late 70s and women to the low 80s.

"In addition, the share of the total population that is at older ages is increasing. This 'structural ageing' is mainly due to declining birth rates and in less than a decade people aged 65 and over will exceed the number of children under 15 years of age for the first time in history."

While Māori and Pacific peoples are still a youthful population in structural terms, the gap to non-Māori in terms of life expectancy is closing, lifting the proportion of older people across the board.

Professor Baxter says this means that issues related to the health and wellbeing of older people will become more prominent in the lives of families and communities.

"Over coming decades, the number of people with degenerative conditions such as dementia, arthritis, cerebrovascular disease and frailty will increase significantly,” he says. “Growing numbers of older people experiencing social isolation, reduced economic participation, and increasing vulnerability to poverty and sub-optimal living conditions will pose additional challenges."

For media enquiries email

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the appointment of three new members to the Marsden Fund Council.

Professor Gillian Dobbie, Professor David Bilkey and Professor Roger Nokes will join the Council for three years from 1 March.

“All three appointees are highly regarded researchers, both domestically and internationally. Their roles on the Marsden Fund Council will involve assessing and recommending funding for research proposals each year, providing strategic direction, and ensuring the relevance and importance of Marsden-funded research is clearly understood,” says Mr Joyce.

Gillian Dobbie, of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland, is a researcher in data management, database systems and software engineering.  Professor Dobbie will convene the Mathematical and Information Sciences panel.

David Bilkey is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Otago. His general research area is systems neuroscience, with a particular focus on the role of the temporal cortex regions of the brain in memory and learning processes. Professor Bilkey will convene the Economics and Human and Behavioural Sciences panel.

Roger Nokes, from the University of Canterbury, is a Professor of Environmental Fluid Mechanics in the Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering. His fields of research include tsunami generation, jets and plumes, gravity currents, and mixing in stratified flows. Professor Nokes will convene the Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences panel.

Mr Joyce has also announced the reappointment of Professor Juliet Gerrard as Chair of the Marsden Fund Council, Dr Ian Ferguson as Convenor of the Cellular, Molecular and Physiological Biology panel, and Professor Robert Hannah as Convenor of the Humanities panel.

The reappointments are for three-year terms from 1 March.

“I welcome the contribution these top researchers can make to New Zealand’s science and innovation system,” says Mr Joyce.

“The Marsden Fund supports excellent investigator-initiated research and has been instrumental in building advanced research skills, as well as attracting and retaining top research talent.  This is essential for a high-performing science and innovation system.”

About the Marsden Fund

The Marsden Fund is administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. It is overseen by a Marsden Fund Council appointed by the Minister.

The Marsden Fund Council comprises 11 eminent researchers – a Chair, and 10 other members. Each member leads a panel in their academic field.  Proposals are assessed by the 10 specialist panels covering the range of research disciplines.

Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the Fund with $56m invested in 101 new projects. 

More information is available at:http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/programmes/funds/marsden/about/council/

Once people find data they are interested in, they can then follow links back to the source to get more details as required.

To view the health data available on the site, go to:  http://wikinewzealand.org/search/?query=Health

• the best country in the world for dementia care and support and for people with dementia, their carers and families to live; and
• the best place in the world to undertake research into dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases

It also highlights the progress to date on improving dementia care, support and research.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prime-ministers-challenge-on-dementia-2020

To read the full story, including details of the studies, go to: http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/nz-breast-cancer-foundation-announce-research-winners/5/213011

Fox, A., et al. (2015). A theoretical framework to support research of health service innovation. Australian Health Review, 39(1), 70-75.

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AH14031 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

To read the highlights from their findings, go to: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#the-hrc's-2014-funding-round-in-review

For further information, go to:  http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?u=57af16fa15f95ed83e0b434a9&id=52afd3e133&e=69b9329363#RFP

Applications close on Wednesday 4 February.For further information, go to:  http://www.medicalresearch.org.nz/call-for-applications

2016-17 Harkness Application deadlines, Australia and New Zealand: September 8, 2015.

For further information, go to:  http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Fellowships/Harkness-Fellowships.aspx

Professor Tanja Mitrovic says the computer science and software engineering lab study tests clearly pointed to significant improvements in stroke patients’ prospective memory functioning. Her research team plans to conduct a larger clinical study and also explore the effect of similar treatment on brain-injury patients.

“We have developed a treatment method which improves prospective memory in stroke patients. These tests using a virtual reality environment for stroke patients to practise their cognitive skills clearly work.

To read the full media release from the University of Canterbury, go to:  http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE1501/S00076/research-tests-shows-stroke-patients-memories-do-improve.htm

The next round of funding for this initiative will be outlined in the form of a Request for Proposals (RFP), which is planned to be released in early February 2015.

To read the full story, go to:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#update-on-health-delivery-initiative-rfp

To read the full story and listen to the story on Our Changing World on Radio New Zealand, go to:  http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/20160406/hospital-bed-mover

The authors analysed 462 press releases on biomedical and health related science issued by 20 leading UK universities in 2011, alongside their associated peer reviewed research papers and news stories.

They found that 40% of the press releases contained exaggerated advice, 33% contained exaggerated causal claims, and 36% contained exaggerated inference to humans from animal research. When press releases contained such exaggeration, 58%, 81%, and 86% of news stories, respectively, contained similar exaggeration, compared with exaggeration rates of 17%, 18%, and 10% in news when the press releases were not exaggerated. The authors found little evidence that exaggeration in press releases increased the uptake of news.

The authors conclude that "... improving the accuracy of academic press releases could represent a key opportunity for reducing misleading health related news".

This is an open access article and can be read in free full text at:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g7015

Sumner, P., et al. (2014). The association between exaggeration in health related science news and academic press releases: Retrospective observational study. BMJ, 349.

To read the full story, go to:  http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/neurological-foundation-announces-research-grant-recipients/5/209912

The article is available to read in free full text at:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1355819614558340

Lamont, T. & Waring, J. (2015). Safety lessons: Shifting paradigms and new directions for patient safety research. Journal of Health Services, Research and Policy, 20(1), suppl 1-8.

Victoria University of Wellington research has identified reasons why a significant portion of heart attack patients do not respond to commonly used treatments.

Lisa Johnston, who will graduate in December with Victoria’s first PhD in Clinical Research, examined patient responses to routinely prescribed antiplatelet drugs such as asprin and clopidogrel—used for treating heart attacks and strokes.

She found that 35 percent of patients do not adequately respond to commonly used heart attack drugs, increasing their risk of death or experiencing another heart attack.

“When a person has a heart attack their blood clots, causing blockage and pain,” explains Lisa. “Antiplatelet drugs thin the blood and make the affected cells less ‘sticky’, hopefully improving blood flow.”

By examining the responses of patients with cardiovascular disease, Lisa identified non-response to standard treatment is significant in diabetic patients, and patients of Māori or Pacific Island ethnicity.

Her findings suggest that these at-risk groups may benefit from treatment with new potent antiplatelet therapies such as ticagrelor, a drug which has been shown to be highly effective at reducing cardiovascular risk in recent international clinical trials and is now funded in New Zealand.

“Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in New Zealand, and an issue we need to keep targeting,” she says.

This study was conducted at the clinical research lab at Wellington Hospital, in collaboration with Capital & Coast District Health Board, under the supervision of Dr Anne La Flamme from Victoria’s School of Biological Sciences, Dr Peter Larsen from the University of Otago and cardiologist Dr Scott Harding.

Lisa will graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinic Research on Thursday 11 December.

The $300,000 Auckland Academic Health Alliance (AAHA) Research Collaboration Fund will invite applications from the ADHB and Faculty of Medical and Health Science (FMHS) researchers for its first round early next year.

To read the full story, go to:  http://www.voxy.co.nz/health/new-collaborative-medical-research-fund-aids-patients/5/209354

The survey was sent to oncologist members of the NCIC Clinical Trials Group, the United Kingdom National Cancer Research Institute Clinical Studies Groups, and the Australia/New Zealand cancer clinical trials network. 

Based on the results of the survey, the authors conclude that "oncologists support HRQL findings from RCTs, but perceive important barriers to their use in clinical decision making, regardless of country or specialty. Combined, clear reporting of HRQL/clinical data may facilitate their clinical application".

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11136-014-0871-9 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

Rouette, J., et al. (2015). Integrating health-related quality of life findings from randomized clinical trials into practice: An international study of oncologists’ perspectives. Quality of Life Research, 24(6), 1317-1325

Auckland City Hospital hepatologist and liver transplant specialist Professor Edward Gane received the Health Research Council of New Zealand’s distinguished Liley Medal at the 2014 Research Honours Dinner in Wellington last night for demonstrating a safer, more effective treatment for people with hepatitis C virus.

The Liley Medal recognises Professor Gane’s outstanding contribution to the health and medical sciences in the field of clinical hepatology. Professor Gane was the lead author on two very highly cited papers in the prestigious medical journal, New England Journal of Medicine, which showed that people could be cured of the hepatitis C virus in just 12 weeks using an antiviral treatment called sofosbuvir.

“Less than 1 per cent of New Zealanders infected with hepatitis C are treated each year because the current treatment, which uses interferon, is not very effective and is poorly tolerated,” says Professor Gane.

Interferon occurs naturally in the human body. When extra quantities of it are injected into the body, the immune system is stimulated to fight off hepatitis C. Unfortunately, because interferon is given by weekly injections at a much higher dose than what the body produces naturally, it can cause many adverse side effects.

The antiviral treatment successfully developed and tested by Professor Gane has become the first interferon-free treatment for people with hepatitis C infection.

“Hepatitis C virus has become the global and silent epidemic of this century, affecting more than 180 million people. Here in New Zealand, almost 50 per cent of adult liver transplants are for hepatitis C virus-related liver failure,” says Professor Gane.

“Hepatitis C virus has now overtaken hepatitis B virus as the leading cause of liver cancer.”

“Even in infected individuals who never develop cirrhosis, hepatitis C virus infection is often associated with fatigue and reduced quality of life.”

The HRC's Acting Chief Executive, Lex Davidson, says Professor Gane’s studies have been instrumental in helping to develop safer, more effective and better tolerated therapies for hepatitis C virus that are of short duration.

“The impact of this research is substantial due to the high prevalence of the disease worldwide and the relatively simple treatment developed and tested by Professor Gane,” says Mr Davidson.

Post-doctoral and doctoral Māori Health research at the University of Auckland in 2015 was awarded more than $900,000 in fellowships and scholarships recently.

The Health Research Council of New Zealand career development awards to Māori health research at the University for 2015 includes two post-doctoral fellowships, two PhD scholarships, and a Masters scholarship.

The successful projects form part of $6.25 million in total funding for the HRC’s career development awards to support the education, training and retention of those engaged in health research.

Emerging Māori biomedical researcher Dr Kimora Henare (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) received a Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop novel treatments for cancer by harnessing the natural abilities of immune cells to kill cancer cells.

In New Zealand the cancer burden is disproportionately greater for Māori, particularly for the most lethal cancers (i.e. lung, breast, prostate, stomach, and pancreas).

Dr Henare’s research project will target macrophages - multi-functional immune cells that have been implicated in tumour growth and development - and which are also potential targets for effective treatment.

“With the growing number of studies involving tissues and genomic data, there’s a growing demand for Māori biomedical scientists who not only carry out the research, but also take on an important kaitiaki role within the project,” says Dr Henare. “Enhancing this capacity will foster safe participation by Māori in these studies and ensure their health benefits flow on to Māori whanau.”

The following are the recipents of 2015 Maori Health Award funding from the HRC:

Dr Kimiora Henare, The Eru Pōmare Postdoctoral Fellowship

Teaching immune cells old tricks: An innovative strategy for treating cancer, 48 months, $388,172

Dr Jennifer Reid, Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship

A kaupapa Māori feasibility study to improve type 2 diabetes in Whangaroa, 36 months, $340,520

Anna Fay, Māori Health Research PhD Scholarship

Towards medical education that addresses Indigenous rights to health, 36 months, $59,777

Erena Wikaire, Māori Health Research PhD Scholarship

Māori participation in traditional Māori health practices, 36 months, $109,309

Jordan Pearse, Māori Health Research Masters Scholarship

Micro-aggressions and Māori, 12 months, $20,600

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2014.11.003 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

Beasley, S. W. (2015). Understanding the responsibilities and obligations of the modern paediatric surgeon. Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 50(2), 223–231.

To read the full abstract, and for information on how to access the full text, go to: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfu354 or contact your DHB library, or organisational or local library for assistance.

Tong, A., et al. (2014). A guide to reading and using systematic reviews of qualitative research. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 20 November [Epub before print].

Experienced public health researcher Professor Kathryn McPherson has been appointed the new Chief Executive of the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).

Professor McPherson, who is currently Professor of Rehabilitation (Laura Fergusson Chair) and Director of Person Centered Research (Rehabilitation) at AUT University, has worked in the research field for 16 years to improve the health of people with disabling conditions. She is author or co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Most of Professor McPherson’s clinical and research work has focused on rehabilitation for people who’ve had a stroke or traumatic brain injury; however, she has also explored key issues facing people with rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain or life-threatening illness.

Professor McPherson says she is looking forward to working for the HRC, an organisation which she says has “huge respect in the health research community”. She’s particularly keen on supporting research that makes a difference to the health of New Zealanders.

“I want to do what I can to ensure that as a country, we facilitate the health research workforce here, and support the research we need if we are to be prepared for the host of health conditions we are facing in the next few decades.”

HRC Board Chair Sir Robert Stewart, KNZM, says the board is thrilled to have someone of Professor McPherson’s standing in the research community lead the HRC into the future.

“Kath has a wealth of experience in the health research sector and has had a strong working relationship with the HRC, having served two terms on the HRC Public Health Research Committee. As the HRC’s new Chief Executive, Kath has chosen to step back from her research and take on more of a stewardship role, where she’ll be a strong advocate for health research and health researchers.”

“The HRC Board believes Kath has all the skills and attributes needed to help the HRC attract, support and retain the best clinicians and health researchers in New Zealand.”

AUT Vice Chancellor, Derek McCormack, says that this is an excellent appointment for the HRC and reflects Professor McPherson’s record as a leader in health research.

“AUT is proud of Professor McPherson’s academic achievements and I’m sure she will excel in the new role," says Derek McCormack.

Professor McPherson, who will become an Adjunct Professor for AUT University, holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She has clinical experience in nursing midwifery and community health, and an academic background in psychology and rehabilitation. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton and King's College London.

Professor McPherson will start her new role at the HRC in the new year.

The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) has today announced more than $2.2 million in funding for Māori health researchers as part of its career development awards programme – up from $1.5 million last year.

The Māori health research career development awards for 2015 include four postdoctoral fellowships, six PhD scholarships, four masters scholarships, two Rangahau Hauora training awards, and four summer studentships. The successful projects form part of $6.25 million in total funding for the HRC’s career development awards to support the education, training and retention of those engaged in health research.

Emerging Māori biomedical researcher Dr Kimora Henare (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) from the University of Auckland has received a Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop novel treatments for cancer by harnessing the natural abilities of immune cells to kill cancer cells.

In New Zealand the cancer burden is disproportionately greater for Māori, particularly for the most lethal cancers (i.e. lung, breast, prostate, stomach, and pancreas). Dr Henare’s research project will target macrophages, multi-functional immune cells that have been implicated in tumour growth and development – and which are also potential targets for effective treatment.

Ms Kelly Tikao (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu) from the University of Otago will use her Māori Health Research PhD Scholarship to explore the rituals associated with traditional Māori birthing practices and their application to birthing plans today. Ms Tikao explored this topic for her Masters in Science Communication, producing a film (Iho – a cord between two worlds) on Māori birthing rituals, practices, and tribal and hapū variations. She hopes her PhD research will help Māori communities to “reclaim and rebuild this area of knowledge that has been forgotten by some hapū, remembered but not practiced by others, and to support whānau Māori who still incorporate some tikanga into their birthing experience”.

In 2013, Nicola Grace from Victoria University of Wellington and Hiria McRae developed a whānau-led weight loss and lifestyle change model named ‘Hauroa Homies’ to support whānau to reduce obesity long term by participating in a ‘challenge’. Now Miss Grace has been awarded a HRC Māori Health Research Masters Scholarship to evaluate this model.

“Having faced long-term health challenges personally, my passion is to support the physical health and fitness of whānau. This evaluation will deepen an understanding of how kaupapa Māori models are reducing obesity, increasing fitness, improving healthy eating, and strengthening whānau self-sufficiency to maintain these changes,” says Miss Grace.

HRC Board Chair Sir Robert Stewart, KNZM, says these awards contribute to improving health equity by investing in promising Māori health researchers who are best placed to identify and resolve health issues in their communities.

“Māori health research graduates are in great demand across a number of sectors. We’re pleased to be able to support this talented pool of researchers as they seek to address the health needs and aspirations of Māori.”

See below for a list of all the HRC career development award recipients (Māori health research category), or go to our funding recipients page.

2015 HRC career development awards  (Māori health research category)

Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowships

Dr Meihana Durie, Te Wānanga o Raukawa
The Hohua Tutengaehe Postdoctoral Fellowship
Te papa o te ora
36 months, $421,600

Dr Kimiora Henare, The University of Auckland
The Eru Pōmare Postdoctoral Fellowship
Teaching immune cells old tricks: An innovative strategy for treating cancer
48 months, $388,172

Dr Huhana Hickey, AUT University
Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
The health and disability experiences of whānau haua
36 months, $376,365

Dr Jennifer Reid, The University of Auckland
Māori Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
A kaupapa Māori feasibility study to improve type 2 diabetes in Whangaroa
36 months, $340,520

Māori Health Research PhD Scholarships

Mr Paul Davis, AUT University
Paramedic systems of care for ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients
36 months, $111,835

Ms Anna Fay, The University of Auckland
Towards medical education that addresses Indigenous rights to health
36 months, $59,777

Ms Tania Huria, University of Otago, Christchurch
‘Created equal’: Investigating health system perspectives of disparities
39 months, $74,616

Ms Christina McKerchar, University of Otago, Wellington
Food availability for Māori children: A rights based approach
48 months, $120,750

Ms Kelly Tikao, University of Otago, Dunedin
Iho – a cord between two worlds. Traditional Māori birthing practices
36 months, $106,750

Ms Erena Wikaire, The University of Auckland
Māori participation in traditional Māori health practices
36 months, $109,309

Māori Health Research Masters Scholarships

Ms Margaret Cheung, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
The Korimako practice-led Māori social work model of theory and praxis
12 months, $17,797

Miss Nicola Grace, Victoria University of Wellington
An evaluation of a Māori health weight loss and lifestyle change model
12 months, $18,734

Mr Mahonri Owen, University of Waikato

Development of a brain controlled prosthetic
12 months, $18,600

Miss Jordan Pearse, The University of Auckland
Micro-aggressions and Māori
12 months, $20,600

Māori Health Research Summer Studentships

Miss Christina Gordon, University of Otago
Changes in neural control of the heart following a heart attack
$5,000

Miss Kennedy Sarich, Independent
Burden of MRSA on Far North communities
$5,000

Ms Moerangi Tamati, Te Pou Tiringa Incoporated
A life-course approach to health and wellbeing
$5,000

Ms Te Kahui Tapsell, University of Otago, Wellington
Analysis of 20 cases of severe acute maternal morbidity in Aotearoa
$5,000

Māori Health Research Rangahau Hauora Training Award

Ms Lisa Kelly, Independent
Te ha ora: Exploring the effectiveness of kaupapa Māori antenatal education
$12,000

Reverend Bettina Maxwell, Independent
Te puna roimata te oranga whānau
$12,000

Ten University of Otago researchers are among the recipients of Health Research Council (HRC) Career Development Awards for 2015, with one gaining a prestigious Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship.

Dr Karl Iremonger (Physiology) is one of two new Sir Charles Hercus Fellows announced today. He will use the four-year fellowship, valued at $489,062, to examine effects of chronic stress on the brain.

Three Maori Health PhD scholarships went to Otago students along with two Māori Health Research Summer Studentships. Two Pacific Health Research PhD Scholarships and two Pacific Health Research Summer Studentships were awarded to Otago researchers.

Announcing this year’s recipients, HRC Board Chair Sir Robert Stewart, KNZM, says the HRC’s career development awards are an important way to foster the health research workforce in New Zealand.

“By targeting support to practicing clinicians and the most promising emerging researchers, we’re helping to ensure that the research workforce will be able to meet the needs of the health-care system and our unique population, both now and into the future,” says Sir Robert.

Otago’s recipients

Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship:

Dr Karl Iremonger (Physiology)
Chronic stress induced adaptations in hypothalamic brain circuits
48 months, $489,062 
Tel: 64 3 479 5210

The damaging effects of chronic or prolonged stress on our bodies and brains will be the focus of Dr Karl Iremonger’s new health research fellowship. Dr Iremonger will determine what changes occur in the brain’s neurons after chronic stress.

Persistent exposure to stress has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. It has also been shown to affect neurological function, including diminished fertility, impaired short-term memory, and an increased risk of anxiety and depression.

Dr Iremonger’s study will analyse changes in the form and structure of neurons in the hypothalamic region of the brain, as well as changes in electrical and chemical signalling in neurons before and after exposure to stress.

Many of the negative impacts of chronic stress on health are thought to be due to the elevated levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones that are secreted in response to chronic stress. While acute exposure to glucocorticoid stress hormones can be beneficial, persistently elevated levels are damaging.

“This research project aims to improve the therapeutic options for people suffering from chronic stress diseases by determining the neurological changes that drive persistently elevated levels of stress hormones,” says Dr Iremonger.

Māori health research career development awards

Māori Health Research PhD Scholarships

Ms Tania Huria, University of Otago, Christchurch
‘Created equal’: Investigating health system perspectives of disparities
39 months, $74,616
Tel: 64 3 364 3677

Ms Christina McKerchar, University of Otago, Wellington
Food availability for Māori children: A rights based approach
48 months, $120,750
Tel: 64 3 364 3638

Ms Kelly Tikao, University of Otago, Dunedin
Iho – a cord between two worlds. Traditional Māori birthing practices 
36 months, $106,750 
Tel: 64 3 456 4559

Māori Health Research Summer Studentships

Miss Christina Gordon, University of Otago 
Changes in neural control of the heart following a heart attack 
10 weeks, $5,000

Ms Te Kahui Tapsell, University of Otago, Wellington 
Analysis of 20 cases of severe acute maternal morbidity in Aotearoa 
10 weeks, $5,000

Pacific Health Research career development awards

Pacific Health Research PhD Scholarships

Mr Jarrod Moors, University of Otago, Dunedin
Lipid profiles as a risk factor for metabolic disease in Polynesians
36 months, $88,550 plus fees
Tel: 64 3 479 4167

Dr Faafetai Sopoaga, University of Otago, Dunedin
Pacific students’ health, wellbeing and success in higher education
36 months, $112,550
Tel: 64 3 479 8493

Pacific Health Research Summer Studentships

Ms Melbournemockba Mauiliu, University of Otago, Dunedin
Experiences of Pacific peoples in the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study
10 weeks, $5,000
Tel: 64 3 479 5482

Miss Alapasita Teu, University of Otago, Dunedin
Building a Pacific health research workforce: “What do our alumni suggest?”
10 weeks, $5,000
Tel: 64 3 479 5888

"In his keynote speech, Sir Mason shared three principles: engagement, enlightenment and empowerment. These three principles remain at the core of the work ahead in improving health outcomes for Pacific peoples at a global level," says HRC Project Manager, Pacific Health, Dr Nuhisifa Seve-Williams".

You can view a PDF of Sir Mason's presentation on the HRC website:  http://www.hrc.govt.nz/news-and-publications/news-media#pasifika-health-research-in-the-21st-century