Awards recognise community reach of early career researchers
Six early career MWC-affiliated researchers are acknowledged through the MWC Early Career Steering Committee (ECSC) awards which recognise both scientific excellence and community engagement and reframes success to include a broad leadership and societal remit.
2023 ECR award winners: Liam Hewson Amy Maslen-Miller, Katharina Robichon
Connecting with rural and Māori communities in taonga research, delivering digestible science about traditional diets to Pacific communities, and driving international collaborations for better heart health in Fiji are among the extraordinary outreach of the six 2023 and 2024 ECSC recipients.
Liam Hewson (University of Otago) has been working with Māori communities to understand the diversity and bioactive properties of a taonga, the kānuka plant. Supporting this research is the Taonga Natural Products Experimental Suite — a teaching programme set up by Liam and rolled out by the Chemistry Outreach team across Otago and with Ngāti Kahu rūnanga in Te Tai Tokerau. The programme has already reached 2200 students.
The Samoan proverb, "O le ala ile pule o le tautua” the pathway to leadership is through service, aligns with Amy Maslen-Miller’s (University of Auckland) dedication to making science fun and accessible. During the COVID pandemic, Amy developed the “Talanoa with Scientists” series engaging children and parents in science matters. Since then, she has amassed a phenomenal following through her social presence on Samoan Scientist which spans six social media platforms.
Dr Katharina Robichon (Victoria University of Wellington/University of Otago Wellington) is committed to helping to improve the quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Through identifying biomarkers, she hopes to improve MS treatments and help match patients and treatments faster. Katharina shares her research knowledge through the MS Society Wellington by attending support groups and fundraises for the society. She has also successfully established collaborative work with local neurologists and established a new MS Masters scholarship at Victoria University of Wellington.
Heart health has been high on the agenda for Dr Pritika Narayan (University of Otago, Wellington). Pritika has been building partnerships across New Zealand and Fiji to raise awareness about heart health and genetic research. She founded the Ganna Research Network charitable trust to fund initiatives for improving heart health for the Peoples of Fiji, spearheaded the Fiji Heart Study, and established the Fiji Heart Study Community Advisory Group in June 2024 for cultural and ethical oversight.
Dr Teodora Georgescu
Dr Teodora Georgescu (University of Otago) founded and chairs the Centre for Neuroendocrinology Equity & Diversity Forum (Te Ohu Matahuhua; “a collection of diverse minds”) at the University of Otago to promote diversity and te reo Māori. She is Treasurer for the NZ Society for Endocrinology and for Pātaka Ora Community Kitchen at Araiteuru Marae. In 2018, Teodora founded the Women’s Wellbeing Symposium in Dunedin and volunteers at brain-related outreach activities throughout the community.
Dr Hannah Lee-Harwood (Victoria University of Wellington) works very closely with Te Herenga Waka Marae and the Living Pā project team to ensure bioprospecting work respects the kaitiakitanga of biological resources. Hannah helped pioneer a new metagenomic screening method to identify enzymes and other key molecules from New Zealand’s soil. Based on this work she has developed and delivered a programme of secondary school activities through Hastings, Wellington and Wairarapa.
All six awardees received $2000 toward their research or community initiatives.