Two University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers, at either end of their careers, have received Royal Society Te Apārangi awards for their work.
Professor Cliff Abraham, of the Department of Psychology, received the prestigious Rutherford Medal, for breakthrough advances in understanding the neural mechanisms of memory and for providing inspirational leadership for Aotearoa's neuroscience community.
While Helena Abolins-Thompson (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāi Tahu, Rangitāne o Tamaki nui a rua), PhD candidate in the Department of Surgery and Critical Care, Wellington, received the Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award, for demonstrating how Indigenous worldviews and community collaboration can enhance molecular biology studies, ensuring ethical, culturally responsive, and equitable representation in scientific data.
The awards were presented at a Royal Society Research Honours event in Wellington last night.
Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson is thrilled their achievements have been recognised at a national level.
"Cliff is an internationally renowned neuroscientist who has made significant contributions to the field throughout his career; Helena may be at the start of hers but is already helping make meaningful changes in Māori health outcomes.
"They are both excellent examples of the world-leading researchers we have at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka and I'm proud of them both."
Rutherford Medal – Professor Cliff Abraham, Department of Psychology
The Rutherford Medal includes prize money of $100,000 and is awarded annually for research with national significance and international recognition.
Professor Abraham says it is a "tremendous honour" to receive the award.
"To be selected to join the ranks of the amazing previous recipients is truly humbling."
He believes the success of his career has hinged on not just his own hard work and dedication, but that of those around him.
After completing his PhD at the University of Florida, he moved to Aotearoa New Zealand and found "wonderful colleagues, research staff and students" at Otago, across the motu, and internationally.
"The passion and drive of my students in particular has been inspirational and critical to our research gains and has helped keep me feeling young! Furthermore, I am grateful to the University and the Department of Psychology which have provided support and encouragement for my research career here," he says.
Together, he and his colleagues have made fundamental discoveries into the capacity of the brain for plasticity that enables and guides memory formation, including a novel form of plasticity termed 'metaplasticity'.
"We have also gained important insights into the molecular mechanisms of plasticity and metaplasticity, and an understanding of how these processes are impaired in various neurological disorders.
"These studies have led to more recent experiments testing new therapeutic approaches for treating neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, a line of work that that has been another highlight of my research career," Professor Abraham says.
Funding support from government agencies such as the Health Research Council and the Marsden Fund, as well as publicly supported organisations such as the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand and the Otago Medical Research Foundation has been vital to the research.
Professor Abraham is also particularly pleased he has been able to help lead efforts to uplift neuroscience through increased collaborations, not only at Otago with the establishment of the Brain Health Research Centre, but across Aotearoa with other like-minded leaders, including through the Brain Research New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence.
In the future, he hopes his team's work on therapies for dementias, which are showing significant promise so far, will continue to thrive and then lead to actual use in the clinic sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Professor Abraham pays special tribute to his wife, Philippa Youard, and the rest of his family, whose "incredibly important love and support" has sustained him in his mahi.
