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Research Staff Awards 2026

The 278th Scientific Meeting of OMSRS, the 2026 Research Staff Awards, were held on 17th June. Eight early career research staff had their abstracts accepted to present their research findings. The standard of presentations was incredibly high and the evening was a wonderful showcase of the amazing research being undertaken by our early career research staff.

Assoc Prof Ailsa McGregor, Head of the Faculty of Health Professional Programmes was the guest of honour attendance and provided the closing remarks and presented the winner and runner-up with their awards. The judges for the meeting were Prof Pete Jones (Department of Physiology, Dr Laura Gummy (Department of Anatomy) and Prof Gisela Sole (School of Physiotherapy). The event was generously sponsored by the Otago Postgraduate Medical Student Association (OPMS) and the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences.

The 2026 Research Staff Award presenters

The winner was Nicholas Anderson from the Department of Anatomy (Abstract title: The size of the primordial reserve in early life does not predict lifetime fertility). Nicholas received a $500 prize money.

Winner Nicholas Anderson pictured with Assoc Prof Ailsa McGregor

 

The runner-up was Michael Perkinson, from the Department of Physiology (Abstract title: A hormone-sensitive neural circuit drives maternal-pup interactions via the dopamine reward system). Michael received $250 in prize money.

Runner-up Michael Perkinson from the Department of Physiology pictured with Assoc Prof Ailsa McGregor

 

Congratulations to Nicholas and Michael, and to all the presenters for their fantastic talks.