$1.5M awarded to develop Māori health research

$1.5M awarded to develop Māori health research workforce

The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) announced today that it has awarded $1.5M towards the development of the Māori health research workforce through its Career Development Awards programme.

Among the award recipients are two outstanding postdoctoral Māori health researchers who have each been awarded Postdoctoral Fellowships to continue to develop their areas of research.

Dr Sarah-Jane Paine from the Sleep/Wake Research Centre at Massey University in Wellington has been awarded the HRC Eru Pomare Research Fellowship in Māori Health. Dr Paine will embark on an innovative programme of research that will advance the sleep health of all New Zealanders. This includes continuing her research into the circadian body clock and how this clock regulates sleep timing and undertaking a comparison of the prevalence of circadian rhythm sleep disorders in Māori and non-Māori, and examining relationships with age, sex, night work and socioeconomic deprivation.

Dr Paine also plans to develop best-practice guidelines to improve health service delivery for Māori.

Dr Lynne Pere from the Health Services Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington will use her Postdoctoral Fellowship to investigate indigenous mental health. Dr Pere will research the influence of culture on the meanings that indigenous peoples from New Zealand, Australia and Canada, who have experienced mental illness, impart to their illness and the subsequent implications of this for mental health service delivery and policy.

An important part of the HRC’s mission is to foster the Māori health research workforce in New Zealand. Eleven Māori Health Research Career Development Awards were made in the 2007 year. These include one Rangahau Hauora award, two Masters awards, five PhD awards and two Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Click here for a full list of HRC Māori Career Development Award recipients for 2007

ENDS

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