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MWC ECSC Mentoring Programme

The MWC Early Career Steering Committee (ECSC) Mentoring Programme provides tailored career and personal development support across a broad range of research areas.

The Programme Framework outlines how the scheme operates and what participants can expect to gain.

Mentoring relationships may be peer-to-peer or involve a more senior mentor supporting a junior mentee. The programme is open to early career researchers at any stage of training or employment, as well as all MWC members.

If you have identified a mentor (or mentors) you would like to work with, please complete the Becoming a Mentee form. We will then coordinate and confirm the pairing. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please complete the Becoming a Mentor form.

Applications from both mentors and mentees are accepted on a rolling basis, and mentor–mentee pairings are arranged continuously throughout the year.

Mentor–mentee pairs are encouraged to use the Mentorship Guidelines as a working framework. These guidelines are intended to be completed and discussed at the beginning of the relationship and revisited as it develops. They help mentees define goals and support needs, while enabling mentors to specify where they can offer guidance and expertise.

To strengthen mentoring relationships through in-person engagement, funding may be available, on a case-by-case basis, to support travel and related meeting costs, particularly where mentors and mentees are based in different locations or institutions. To request support, please complete the Travel Funding form.

The ECSC will collect regular feedback from mentors and mentees to assess programme effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. We will periodically check in with all mentees and mentors to review progress and determine whether additional support is needed. A Mentee or Mentor Evaluation Form will be provided for this purpose. If a mentoring relationship is not meeting expectations at any stage, participants are encouraged to contact us at maurice-wilkins-centre@auckland.ac.nz for confidential assistance.

Current mentors

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Associate Professor Jane Allison

Career stage: Associate Professor
Research Area: Computational biology
Institution and location: School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland
Other skills and experience: RDF, running a research group, gaining a faculty position
Web page: click here

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Professor Greg Anderson

Career stage: Professor, Principal Investigator
Research Area: neuroendocrinology (basic biomedical research)
Institution and location: Centre for Neuroendocrinology, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: running a research programme, gaining a faculty/permanent position
Web page: click here

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Dr Abigail Bland

Career stage: Postdoctoral fellow
Research Area: Cancer and cardiovascular disease
Institution and location: Department of Pharmacology, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: Postdoctoral salary grant success, publication/thesis writing, CV/presentation tips, navigating the transition from student to postdoc
Web page: click here

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Professor Colin Brown

Career stage: Professor
Research Area: Neuroendocrinology
Institution and location: Centre of Neuroendocrinology, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: I have run an independent research programme at Otago since 2005 that has been funded through multiple Marsden and HRC grants. I took four years to get my first Marsden and am currently ‘between grants’. I was a post doc in the UK and Canada for 12 years. I have sat on search committees for academic posts and have extensive experience of conference, society and editorial organisation. I have mentored three academic staff who were all confirmed early and have provided informal mentoring on career development to postdocs and students, as well as advice around dealing with bullying and harassment in the workplace. Our lab code of conduct can be found via the weblink below.
Web page: click here

Distinguished Professor Bill Denny

Career stage: 40+ years experience in medchem/drug development
Research Area: medchem (small molecules), cancer, infectious diseases
Institution and location: Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, University of Auckland
Other skills and experience: Industry experience: co-founding scientist of 4 startup companies: EPTCO Ltd (UK). Proacta Inc (NZ/US), Pathway Therapeutics (NZ/US), Kea Therapeutics (NZ); Funding success: PI/co-PI on numerous public good and commercial contracts; ca NZ$300M; Running a research programme: ACSRC director 1988-2020; 15 drugs taken to clinical trial; Mentoring: of 70+ medchem posts at ACSRC over the years.
Web page: click here

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Dr Sarah Diermeier

Career stage: Principal Investigator (early stage)
Research Area: Cancer Research, RNA, Epigenetics
Institution and location: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: Collaborations with Industry, Research Commercialization & IP generation, international faculty job search, balancing running a research group and having a small child. I have previously mentored PhD students and postdocs, and received the 2017 Mentorship Award for Women in Science from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA.
Web page: click here

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Dr Sandra Fitzgerald

Career stage: First-year Post-Doctoral Scientist
Research Area: Cancer Genomics, Translational Research, Liquid Biopsies
Institution and location: Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland
Other skills and experience: Work-life-balance, technology and research project development, research talks, posters, conference organisation and supporting students through their PhD journey
Web page: click here

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Dr Nicholas Fleming

Career stage: Fellow post-doctoral 10 years
Research Area: cancer biology
Institution and location: Department of Pathology University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: grant writing, student supervision
Web page: click here

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Dr Safina Gadeock

Career stage: Research Fellow
Research Area: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Epithelial Cell Biology, Immunology, Medicine
Institution and location: Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: First 3D Organoid Modelling Expert in New Zealand, US-based international collaborations, Live stem cell imaging, Laser-ablation injury modelling, development of independent research, and technical projects in alignment with Vision Mātauranga guidelines, leading projects with specific focus on clinical outcomes, mentoring graduate, and post-graduate students for careers in academia and industry, successful grant outcomes
Web page: click here

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Professor Michelle Glass

Career stage: Professor
Research Area: Pharmacology
Institution and location: Department of Pharmacology, University of Dunedin
Other skills and experience: Balancing family with work, running a research programme, applying for grants, balancing academic leadership roles with other duties.
Web page: click here

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Dr Natasha Grimsey

Career stage: Senior Research Fellow / Group leader
Research interests: Molecular Pharmacology / G Protein-Coupled Receptors / Cannabinoids
Institution and location: Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Grafton Campus, University of Auckland
Other skills and experience: Running a Research group as an Early Career Researcher, Family and career (I have a young daughter), FMHS systems/processes, Grant writing (success with Marsden Faststart, AMRF Project and Fellowship, HRC Hercus Fellowship etc).
Webpage: click here

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Dr Joanna Hicks

Career stage: Mid-career (Senior Lecturer)
Research Area: Infectious Disease, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Molecular Microbiology
Institution and location: University of Waikato, Hamilton
Other skills and experience: Balancing work and family life, gaining a permanent position, successful early career funding, establishing and running a research program
Web page: click here

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Professor Phillip Hill

Career stage: Professor
Research Area: Mycobacterium Tuberculosis infection and disease. Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage, disease and vaccination.
Institution and location: Otago Medical School, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: funding success, running a research programme, gaining a faculty/permanent position, clinical experience, international collaborations, training and supervision.
Web page: click here

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Dr Jodie Johnston

Career stage: Senior Lecturer
Research Area: Biochemistry and protein structure and function with a focus on proteins from microbes, including human pathogens.
Institution and location: University of Canterbury
Other skills and experience: Running research program, grant applications/obtaining funding (full Marsden, AMRF, CMRF), transition from short-term post-doc to permanent faculty position, supervision of students (undergrad, hons, Masters, PhD) and editing of student thesis, juggling of having family with maintaining academic career, somewhat non-traditional career pathway.
Web page: click here

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Dr Megan Leask

Career stage: Principal Investigator (early stage)
Research Area: Genetics.
Institution and location: University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Otago
Other skills and experience: Work-life balance with a young whānau, navigating academia as a Māori kairangahau, funding success for early career awards.
Web page: click here

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Dr Georgia Lenihan-Geels

Career stage: Early career postdoc (Year 2)
Research Area: Cell biology (metabolism and immunology)
Institution and location: Victoria University of Wellington
Other skills and experience: Thesis writing, grant writing, international academic and research experience (Europe), CVs and academic job hunting, medical communications (several years as an academic editor)
Web page: click here

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Dr Jacelyn Loh

Career stage: Senior Research Fellow
Research Area: Infection and Immunity, vaccine development
Institution and location: Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland
Other skills and experience: Post-doc in Switzerland, some industry experience (plant and food research), 2 successful fellowships, student supervision, family
Web page: click here

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Associate Professor Shaun Lott

Career stage: Associate Professor
Research Area: Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Bacterial pathogenesis
Institution and location: School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland
Other Skills and Experience: grant writing, supervision, international collaboration
Web page: click here

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Associate Professor Peter Mace

Career stage: Associate Professor
Research Area: structural biology, biochemistry, cell signalling
Institution and location: Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago
Other skills and experience: funding success, running a research programme, gaining a faculty/permanent position
Web page: click here

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Dr Sunali Mehta

Career stage: Senior Research Fellow
Research Area: Cancer Biology
Institution and location: Department of Pathology, University of Otago
Other skills and experience: Publications, work-life-balance, promotions, developing a research project
Web page: click here

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Dr Natalie Netzler

Career stage: Research Fellow, 7 years of industry experience
Research Area: Experimental virology, role of gene variants in immunity and metabolic disease
Institution and location: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, UOA, Grafton
Other skills and experience: Industry experience, cGMP vaccine production, Pacific and Māori community outreach, balancing family with work
Web page: click here

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Professor Nigel Perry

Career stage: Professor, advanced
Research Area: Bioactive natural products, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry
Institution and location: Plant & Food, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: Industry experience, balancing family with work, funding success, running a research programme, gaining a faculty/permanent position, previous experience in mentoring
Web page: click here

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Dr Rachel Purcell

Career stage: Mid-career
Research interests: colorectal cancer, gastro-intestinal pathology, microbiome, molecular biology
Institution and location: Department of Surgery, University of Otago (Christchurch)
Other skills and experience: balancing family with work, funding success, running a research programme
Weblink: click here

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Dr Tamsin Robb

Career stage: Research fellow (one year post PhD)
Research Area: Cancer genomics, tumour evolution, molecular biomarkers, advanced visualisation (extended reality)
Institution and location: Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland
Other skills and experience: I would be happy to mentor an early-stage PhD student, and could provide advice on publication and presenting at conferences, stitching together varied subject matter into a thesis, or any other areas of interest
Web page: click here

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Dr Euan Rodger

Career stage: Senior Research Fellow
Research Area: cancer epigenetics, molecular biology. Genomics
Institution and location: Department of Pathology, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: publication/grant-writing, student supervision, funding success, balancing work/life
Web page: click here

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Associate Professor Evelyn Sattlegger

Career stage: Associate Professor
Research Area: Molecular Biology / Biochemistry / Genetics / Signal transduction / Basic Biomedical Sciences
Institution and location: School of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University (Auckland campus)
Other skills and experience: funding success, previous experience in mentoring (mentees successes include fast-start Marsden, HRC early career), experience in mentoring colleagues on postgraduate student supervision
Web page: click here

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Dr Tania Slatter

Career stage: Senior Lecturer and Director Medical Laboratory Science
Research Area: brain cancer, experimental pathology, cancer biology, translational-diagnostic laboratory testing.
Institution and location: Department of Pathology, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: gaining a faculty/permanent position, running a research group, working with diagnostic and pharmaceutical laboratory partners, and diagnostic accreditation requirements.
Web page: click here

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Dr Andrea Vernall

Career stage: Early to mid, senior lecturer
Research Area: Organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical tools
Institution and location: Department of Chemistry, University of Otago (Dunedin)
Other skills and experience: Running an academic research group, gaining a faculty/permanent position, post overseas and return to NZ, working in research only institutes versus academic departments.
Web page: click here

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Professor David Williams

Career stage: Professor, FRSNZ
Research Area: Biomolecules at interfaces, electrochemistry and corrosion science, semiconducting oxides as gas sensors.
Institution and location: School of Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland.
Other skills and experience: Industry experience, IP, funding success, gaining a faculty/permanent position
Web page: click here

MWC scheme pilot 2019

In 2019 the MWC ECSC launched the mentoring scheme, starting with a small pilot group before rolling it out to the wider MWC investigator cohort. The pilot was a great success, and feedback provided by the pairs was used to guide the design of the current programme (initiated in 2020) For a story on the pilot programme, click here.

“It’s good for me to see what is concerning to a student so that I’m aware of what’s going on for my own students from a different perspective. It’s good to have insights …. so I know what’s at play for them, and this can help me be more proactive as a supervisor. “

“It’s been really valuable to get a different perspective on long term career planning and things to watch out for...”

-Feedback from the pilot cohort

Jodie and Tasmin Pilot Scheme 2019

MWC mentoring pilot scheme pair Dr Jodie Johnston (Senior lecturer, University of Canterbury) and Tamsin Robb (PhD candidate, University of Auckland)