The joint winners of the 2020 Rowheath Trust Award and Carl Smith Research Medal Lecture Dr Louise Bicknell and Associate Professor Anne-Marie Jackson will present their talks at 5:30pm on Tuesday 3 November in Burns 1 Lecture Theatre.

Dr Bicknell, from the Department of Pathology, will present her talk “The genetics of how we grow”
Our genetic code contains the key instructions on how our bodies and brain grow – yet we still don’t fully understand what mechanisms are involved. Dr Bicknell harnesses the power of rare genetic disorders, where people have restricted body or brain growth, to gain insight into these essential instructions. She will present her laboratory’s research efforts to understand the genetic control of growth and to help people affected by such disorders.

She will be followed by Associate Professor Anne-Marie Jackson (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu o Whangaroa, Ngāti Wai) who is co-Director of Te Koronga based in the Division of Sciences, School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences. Her research focuses on mauri ora (flourishing wellbeing).

He kairangahau Māori o te rōpū rangahau o Te Koronga i roto i te Rohe a Ahikāroa, Te Kura Parawhakawai a Ahorangi Tuarua Anne-Marie Jackson (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu o Whangaroa, Ngāti Wai). Ko mauri ora te kaupapa o tōna mahi rangahau.

Associate Professor Jackson’s talk is titled ”Tēnei tātou Te Koronga: Indigenising the academy since mai rā anō”
The phrase Te Koronga is borrowed from the opening line of an ancient Māori chant that refers to a yearning for excellence. This is the research kaupapa she co-leads. In this kōrero, she will describe the dual parts of her role as a kaupapa Māori researcher. Firstly, she will outline her research expertise in Māori physical education and health which is the study and application of te ao Māori (Māori worldview), Te Tiriti (Treaty of Waitangi) and Kaupapa Māori for mauri ora (flourishing wellness). Secondly, she will discuss how through this disciplinary platform, as servants to our communities, we engage in transforming and indigenising the academy to ensure we as Māori are the critics and conscience of our society.

Nō te rerenga kōrero tuatahi o tētahi karakia tāwhito te rerenga kupu o te koronga. Ko te hiahia mō te hiranga te whakamārama o taua rerenga kupu. Nā Anne-Marie Jackson tētahi o ngā kaihautū o taua kaupapa rangahau. I roto i tēnei kōrero, ka kōrero a Anne-Marie ki ngā mea e rua e pā ana ki ōna mahi o te kairangahau kaupapa Māori. Tuatahi, ka whakarāpopoto ia i ōna mahi rangahau o te whakatinanahia o te hauora Māori, arā, ko te whakaritenga o te ao Māori, Te Tiriti me te Kaupapa Māori mō te mauri ora. Tuarua, ka kōrero ia e pā ana ki te mahi o te rangahau, mā te rangahau ngā hapori e hāpai, mā te rangahau anō mātou e panoni, e whakamāori hoki ngā whare wānanga kia ū ki te kaupapa matua, he kaiwhakamana mātou mō tō mātou ao whānui.

The Carl Smith Research medal is one of the University’s highest research honours, and awarded annually to recognise the outstanding research performance of early career staff.

This is a free public lecture and all are welcome to attend and learn.

We have a special seminar from Dr Jane MacDonald and colleagues based at the Centre for Women’s Health Research, Wellington Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington. They will present ‘He Tapu Te Whare Tangata (the sacred house of humanity)’, a randomised controlled trial of self-testing for HPV infection in Māori women.

Please see attached for more information.He tapu te whare tangata_poster

The OMSRS Masters and Honours Student Speaker awards, and Annual General Meeting will be held on 4th November 2020 at 5pm in the Barnett Lecture Theatre.

10 speakers have been selected from a range of departments. A prize of $500 will be awarded for the best presentation, and a prize of $250 will be awarded to the runner up.

We will also hold a brief Annual General Meeting during the break, and announce the winner and runners up of our annual Science Writing Prize, sponsored by Kainic Medical Communications.

Approximate timings are given below.

Departmental seminar series continues with Dr Xochitl Morgan from Microbiology & Immunology. Her seminar is entitled ‘Understanding ecosystem dysfunction in inflammatory bowel disease’.

Please see attached for more information: Morgan_poster

You are warmly invited to attend MapNet 2020, a free online conference across three ~90 minute sessions on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 November 2020. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Mātauranga and Te Ao Māori to guide genetics research: better outcomes for people and for science’.

As you know, the MapNet conference has historically been a meeting place for the applied genetics community in Aotearoa, with a particular focus on gene mapping in commercial species. However, in recent years both the community and the research has expanded significantly, with talks at last year’s conference covering human and health genomics, primary sector genomics, ecological and evolutionary genomics, microbial genomics and Māori kaupapa / Te Ao Māori in genetics teaching and research. This year, in an online format, we have decided to focus on the theme of “Mātauranga and Te Ao Māori to guide genetics research: better outcomes for people and for science” as a common thread that links all aspects of applied genetics in Aotearoa.

Ngā mihi nui – a huge thanks to the amazing speakers who have kindly agreed to share their tohungatanga – expertise. We are particularly thrilled to start the conference with a plenary presentation from Prof Alex Brown, an internationally leading Aboriginal clinician/researcher who has worked his entire career in Aboriginal health. We are also honoured to have Dr Kimiora Henare, Dr Phil Wilcox, Dr Jonni Koia and Assoc Prof Maui Hudson presenting during the conference.

Please see below for our schedule, you are most welcome to join us for any or all sessions!

Please register for the event here: https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/mapnet-2020-matauranga-and-te-ao-maori-to-guide-better-genetics-research-tickets-126764131931

Closer to the time, we will be in touch with registered attendees with details of how to attend each session via zoom.

Noho ora mai,

MapNet 2020 organising committee: Anna Santure, Annabel Whibley, Thomas Buckley, Libby Liggins, Jibran Tahir and Phil Wilcox

Monday 16 November: Indigenous health genomics and Māori kaupapa/Te Ao Māori in human health genomics

11:30-11:40am: Welcome

11:40am-12:20pm: Plenary from Prof Alex Brown, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and University of Adelaide (https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/alex.brown)

12:20-12:40pm: questions and discussion

-break-

2:00-2:30pm: Dr Kimiora Henare (https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/k-henare)

2:30-3:00pm: Dr Phil Wilcox (https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=v5W0yNUAAAAJ&hl=en)

3:00-3:20pm: joint questions and discussion

Tuesday 17 November: Māori kaupapa/Te Ao Māori in genetics research

2:00-2:30pm: Dr Jonni Koia (https://www.waikato.ac.nz/staff-profiles/people/jkoia)

2:30-3:00pm: Assoc Prof Maui Hudson (https://www.waikato.ac.nz/fmis/about/staff/maui)

3:00-3:20pm: joint questions and discussion

3:20-3:30pm: closing

We have special seminar on Monday 11 am by Dr Veronika Sander, from the University of Auckland titled “Using human kidney organoids to study acute kidney injury”.

Location is the D’ Ath Hercus building.

Seminar Poster

The Health Sciences’ Divisional Research Committee is holding a presentation where we will discuss proposal format (EoI and Full), application faults and what the panel is looking for.

Current grant holders will also be present to share their experiences.

Zoom details: https://otago.zoom.us/j/99339176722?pwd=aEFqelp6VzBMT2ZlWEFmR08xczNjQT09, Password: 872997

Dr Nathan Kenny, Oxford Brookes University:

The freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri: a new tool for tracing genome evolution across the animal tree of life.

Genomes of non-bilaterians are vital for understanding the evolution of animal multicellularity and the origin of the first metazoan-specific cell types. However, within the non-bilaterian metazoans, such as sponges, ctenophores and cnidarians, only a handful of genomes have been sequenced, and most are too fragmented to allow firm inference of the genomic characters of the earliest animals. To address this longstanding problem, we sequenced and analyzed the 326 Mb genome of the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri to high contiguity, capturing its 23 chromosomes on 24 scaffolds.

E. Mueller has a metazoan-typical genome architecture, highly shared synteny with chordates, and representative levels of DNA methylation. E. Mueller is also a widespread, highly practical model system. Its well-assembled genome and ready utility as a model allows testing of hypotheses about gene duplication and adaptation to novel conditions, as well as providing a firm anchor for exploring the genomic evolution of animal life.

Dr Alana Alexander, Department of Anatomy, University of Otago

Linking past to future: using genomics to ‘time-travel’

Molecular approaches are useful for inferring how populations have responded to selective pressures and past environmental change. My research utilises the “time-traveling” ability of genomics, advanced computational tools, and behavioural, ecological, and biogeographic data to make inferences about the processes influencing genetic diversity within and among populations. These inferences range from global spatial and deep temporal scales (e.g. selection and the worldwide impact of climate fluctuations on global sperm whale populations over the last 125,000 years), to regional spatial scales across recent time scales (e.g. processes influencing the movement of genes and individuals across hybrid zones over the last few decades).

As a Māori scientist, I also maintain a strong interest in ensuring that my research can be used to support kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga of resources within the rohe of iwi and hapū.