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Read more now in the latest AMRF newsletter. You can read about the progress of research and the researchers supported by donors like you including: Dr Emma Nolan's return to Auckland with an AMRF Douglas Goodfellow Repatriation Fellowship to enable her to establish a breast cancer research group. Early career researchers are at an exciting stage in their research development. Read more about them, including the outstanding recipient of an AMRF postdoctoral fellowship, Dr Arezoo Malihi. Click below to read and download the PDF newsletter Watch now to hear more from Dr Emma Nolan

University student Mia Collins demonstrates her appreciation for the importance of medical research with her social enterprise, The Stem Shelves Club As a second year student in Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, Mia Collins has learned of the importance of research to health care. She hopes to enter medical school through the postgraduate route. "The Stem Shelves Club is a small account/business that I've decided to run alongside my studies, and with every plant I sell, I donate 20% of the profits." Research is a key factor when it comes to medicine because it helps discover new cures, preventions as well as understand why there are major public health issues. By selling plants propagated from cuttings, Mia has found a personally meaningful way for her hobby to support her favourite causes. "We can't wait to see how this grows." Join Mia on social media to learn more about how you can help support her and medical research. Instagram: The Stem Shelves Club Facebook: The Stem Shelves Club

Auckland Medical Research Foundation fast-tracks emergency Covid-19 Relief funds The Auckland Medical Research Foundation (AMRF) is launching a $1.36million emergency Covid-19 Relief Fund, to ensure research projects impacted by the pandemic can recover from months of Auckland’s extended lockdowns. The pandemic has caused major disruptions for researchers kept out of their laboratories and unable to work for 190 days during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns. They now need additional support to pay salaries to complete their work. “Auckland Medical Research Foundation is the first medical research funding body that we know of in New Zealand to do this. As the country’s largest independent research funder, we see it as imperative to support the researchers we are investing in, to ensure their work reaches fruition,” Sue Brewster, AMRF executive director, says. “We have identified 73 projects funded by AMRF that were affected and are now significantly stalled due to Covid. “One particular group of researchers who have been severely impacted by these lockdowns are those who rely on salaries largely covered by donor-funded research grants contestable research grants. To be awarded this funding, researchers must prove their research is of significant importance and quality, and the AMRF is a major provider of these funds. “These are a wide range of projects including cancers, neurologic diseases such as Alzheimer's, heart disease, population health and paediatrics. Without additional funds to cover salaries, this work is at risk,” Brewster says. “This is a crisis for the Auckland research community. While we have been able to give them time-only extensions to try to complete their research, their salaries are also now running out. They are well behind where they should be at in completing their research.” Eligible researchers can apply for the equivalent of three to six months’ of the grant’s total salary component under the Covid-19 Relief Fund, depending on if their grant was active during the lockdowns. The grants are either for two year postdoctoral fellowships and projects, or three-year doctoral scholarships and medical research fellowships. Professor Larry Chamley’s two-year investigation into what triggers preeclampsia was delayed by the inability to get into the laboratory and source up to 50 human placentas for intended to be tested within hours of delivery, while hospitals had strict isolation rules in place. The Professor of Reproductive Biology and Reproductive Immunology and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chamley is the Director of the Hub for Extracellular Investigations (HEVI) at the University of Auckland now needs to find six months’ salary for his highly-skilled technician to carry out the work. “Our processes take time to set up so for every month that we were out of the lab, there was a month at the beginning and a month at the end where we also lost work,” Chamley says. “The consequence for the women and babies of New Zealand is that we are no closer to understanding the cause of this life-threatening disease that affects five percent of pregnant young women and their babies.” Dr Julie Lim is researching strategies that could be used to prevent or delay the onset of cataracts, the leading cause of blindness. She is also funded for two years by the AMRF and had already received a time extension to complete the project after the 2020 lockdown. The Senior Lecturer in the Molecular Vision Laboratory in the university’s Department of Physiology is “incredibly disappointed” that the momentum of her work was derailed. “The stop-start nature of these lockdowns has really impacted our research and researchers. We were not able to access donor tissue from the hospital so we have to postpone these until next year. It will directly impact my ability to publish two papers I might get from this study and hinder the career advancement of my junior post-doctoral research fellow and also slow down progress towards the development of anti-cataract therapies for our rapidly ageing and diabetic population.” The fund has been fast-tracked so that applications will open shortly and it is anticipated the money will be awarded as soon as possible in 2022. It follows the AMRF providing $505,000 for seven Covid-related research projects in 2020. “We have a built a reputation for being a significant provider of contestable funding and the opportunity for researchers to leverage further investment, often being the catalyst for researchers going on to secure larger grants from the likes of the Health Research Council. If their work faces further delays, they may not be at a stage where they can apply for other monies, stalling projects and careers even further.” Click here to request further information.

Read more now in the latest AMRF Newsletter. Read about the progress of research and the researchers supported by donors like you including: Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble's extensive work to create a magic bullet against cancer Early career researchers are at an exciting stage in their research development. Read more about the outstanding candidates being considered for the prestigious AMRF postdoctoral fellowship AMRF is so lucky to have friends who want to make a meaningful impact, like Tom and Chris who will cycle Tour Aotearoa to raise funds for cancer research, and Keith, who outlines the benefits he's received from cardiovascular and musculoskeletal research. Click below to read and download the PDF newsletter

Researchers in Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland have published results from the pilot study of the Whitu app, a mobile phone app aimed at providing young New Zealanders with tools to help them improve well-being, reduce anxiety and depression and deal with the Covid-19 pandemic Participants in the pilot study demonstrated within-group improvements over time in wellbeing, depression, stress and anxiety at the 6-week follow-up. Whitu (meaning 7 in Te Reo) has also recently been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with the manuscript submitted to a medical journal. Screen shots from the Whitu app Co-lead researcher Dr Anna Serlachius says, "With the promising findings from the pilot and RCT, we are increasingly focused on dissemination. There has been growing interest from healthcare professionals and those working with young people to promote the app and we hope that Whitu can be another tool to support young New Zealanders during the pandemic." Together with co-lead researcher Dr Hiran Thabrew and their collaborators she says, Our future endeavours include adapting the app to use with younger high school students and youth living with diabetes. "As always, our team are incredibly grateful to AMRF for your support with this project." You can find the Whitu app on the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carbonimagineering.whitu or the Whitu app on the Apple store. https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/whitu/id1508135602?ign-mpt=uo=4 Read the publication in Internet Interventions here, Pilot study of a well-being app to support New Zealand young people during the COVID-19 pandemic

HealtheX, the annual forum and celebration of medical and health science student research successfully adapted to restrictions. In an online format, HealtheX 2021 was as successful as ever and we congratulate the AMRF Outstanding Emerging Researcher & Best Doctoral Oral Presentation winner, Dr Robyn May. True to form a virtual version of HealtheX 2021, the University of Auckland's main forum for medical and health science students to present their research was staged. At AMRF, we consider HealtheX to be an important incubator for up-and-coming researchers and so every year we support three of the top awards. This year we were delighted that Dr Robyn May, one of the recipients of an AMRF doctoral scholarship in 2020, took out the top award for AMRF Outstanding Emerging Researcher & Best Doctoral Oral Presentation. Robyn's research is focused on 'the search for vascular culprits' and aims to use computational modelling to identify differences in cardiovascular physiology between newborns of different gestational ages. We highlighted Robyn's work in our 2020 Annual Report when she was awarded an AMRF doctoral scholarship. Most of us have heard of Olympian Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer in modern times, who is also famed for his personal concern with heart health. He once said, 'the problem with heart disease is the first symptoms are often fatal' and that's why it's so important to understand the risks of cardiovascular disease in the earliest stages of life. When we asked Robyn what the end game of her research is, her answer: "We know that babies born early are at greater risk of heart disease but there is still uncertainty about the physiological mechanism by which preterm birth is related to poor cardiovascular outcomes later in life. My research aims to address this knowledge gap using computational modelling and contribute to future clinical studies to reduce these risk factors." Congratulations, Robyn! Here's the winning abstract:

Asthma affects one in seven New Zealand children, and is a leading cause of hospital admissions. New research will help understand how to better support children with asthma, as they frequently find themselves administering their own medicines, avoiding triggers, and making decisions about symptom management. Dr Julie Spray is returning to New Zealand from a postdoctoral role in the USA to take up an academic position in the Department of Social and Community Health at The University of Auckland. With support from the Auckland Medical Research Foundation, Dr Spray will establish a research programme investigating children’s participation in their health and, in line with article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, advocating for greater inclusion of children's perspectives in health matters that affect them. AMRF is pleased to support Dr Spray with a Sir Harcourt Caughey Award to supplement her Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, enabling her to undertake this research full-time. Dr Spray has previously studied this issue in school and household contexts and will now expand her focus to include clinical care providers and their encounters with children, to understand how the policies, systems and power structures of medicine shape children’s participation in their care. "The overarching aim of this research is to understand how medical practitioners, families and children conceptualise and negotiate children’s participation in, and responsibility for, asthma management. This project supports me to build partnership and community relationships and networks that will be foundational to future research addressing children’s health." With goals of translating theoretical insights into policy, service delivery, and interventions, she wants her research contribution to help advocates more effectively support children and positively influence the decisions that shape their lives. "I am so grateful to AMRF donors for this funding that supports my transition back to Auckland."

Auckland Medical Research Foundation is pleased to continue to support postdoctoral research at the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences' annual SUMMIT2021 symposium. With topics ranging across a wide spectrum of health research fields, a record number of postdoctoral researchers demonstrated an impressive variety of technical skills and personal passion for their work. The postdoctoral career stage is a critical time for early career researchers to establish themselves in their chosen field of study. Their work to rapidly produce and publish significant data while also planning for their next role is complicated by a common struggle to achieve salary and research funding. Limited money available in university, government or charitable programmes continues to stymie many promising researchers. SUMMIT2021 and its awards offer an opportunity for postdoctoral researchers to set themselves apart in a competitive field. AMRF was pleased to again sponsor the Best Oral Presentation, a prize of $3,000 for conference travel, publication fees or related research costs, to Dr James McKeage from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute for his work "Needle-free capillary blood sampling using jet injection". He was praised for both his presentation style and innovative content. Dr McKeage says, "It is an honour to be awarded the AMRF Best Research Presentation Award at SUMMIT 2021. This award is going to be extremely helpful in supporting me to build upon my research in the field of needle-free jet injection. "I aim to use this opportunity to present my work to an international audience and seek out new collaboration to support the future directions of my research. "These kinds of awards are vital for early career researchers as we look to build our careers and new avenues of research." Highlights of the day included keynote speeches from Dr Joep de Ligt, Lead Scientist Bioinformatics & Genomics at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research: ESR and Dr Sarah-Jane Guild, Chief Scientific Officer at Kaha Sciences.

The pharmacist has an important place in healthcare as medicines experts and by being easily accessible by patients. Jo Hikaka explores how pharmacists can provide medicines information reviews to improve the quality of medicine prescribing and reduce adverse outcomes in older Māori adults in Aotearoa New Zealand. In New Zealand healthcare, pharmacists are increasingly providing medicine reviews which support both patients and prescribers. These services have the ability to improve the medicines knowledge, control and autonomy of patients and can optimise treatment when undertaken together with both patient and prescribers. Jo Hikaka from the University of Auckland recently won the Excellence in Research Award for Best Emerging Researcher at the Waitematā District Health Board Health Excellence Awards 2021. This AMRF-sponsored prize recognises early career scientists performing important clinical research. She developed and tested a medicines review intervention to meet the particular needs of older Māori to support the achievement of equity in the quality use of medicines between Māori and non-Māori. The intervention was developed with kaupapa Māori theory and using kaupapa Māori research principles to centre Māori in the development. Ms Hikaka says,"As an emerging researcher, it is a privilege to be recognised in this way, and the award helps to highlight the importance of the work, and the right of older Māori to receive clinically and culturally excellent care. "This study is an example of a pro-equity health intervention, informed by Indigenous knowledge and methodology, developed explicitly to address inequities in health outcomes for, and with, Māori. The methods used and outcomes reported have significance for clinicians, pharmacy organisation and policy-makers that work to provide pro-equity health services to (and with) Indigenous populations and other marginalised groups or populations." This award will support me to share my research in the United States where I will be heading in 2022 as a Fulbright Graduate Awardee, undertaking research at Brown University.

Read more now in the latest AMRF Newsletter. Read about the latest research and the researchers supported by donors like you including: Joint health researcher gets a career boost from AMRF funding. Announcing our next free public lecture, The Quest for Improved Cancer Treatments. Learn more and register free here. Midwifery researcher Dr Robin Cronin received AMRF funds for her notable research in preventing stillbirth to present at a prestigious symposium. Stories from our supporters about their connection to medical research, and a tribute to the late Dr Bruce Goodfellow. Click below to view and download the PDF newsletter

Researchers in Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland have completed two trials of the prototype version of the Whitu app, a mobile phone app aimed at providing young New Zealanders with tools to help them improve well-being, reduce anxiety and depressio and deal with the Covid-19 pandemic During the single-arm, pilot-trial In August 2020, 20 young people reported significant improvements in well-being, depression, anxiety and stress between baseline and 6-week follow-up. These participants also provided the team with valuable feedback to help improve the look and feel of the app and its cultural appeal. The researchers submitted a paper outlining this study to an international journal. Co-lead researcher Dr Hiran Thabrew says,"Our app designer quickly set about making the suggested changes to Whitu between August and September 2020. We then recruited 90 young people to a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of Whitu vs waitlist control between October 2020 and April 2021. We are pleased to report that preliminary analysis of findings from the larger trial demonstrate improvements in almost all outcome measures (including well-being, depression and stress) at 1-month and 3-month follow-up. Feedback from the app users includes the following: "As someone with anxiety I found these tools extremely helpful for me" "I feel like I should make a special mention of the karanga at the beginning of the app when i first opened and downloaded it. As a young Māori woman, being called into the app and have it welcome all my problems and grief instantly sparked a spiritual connection for me and i instantly felt at ease and felt safe enough to embark on my healing and wellbeing journey. I also enjoyed the constant use of Te Reo Māori and the progress of watching my puriri tree grow throughout the 4 weeks. It was a pleasant surprise and so culturally inclusive. The voice overs were pleasant to listen to, the videos, sounds and effects captivating. The best app after what was such a rollercoaster year! Thank you!" With co-lead researcher Dr Anna Serlachius, the team are in the process of completing data analysis and publication of their findings. "Having provisionally ascertained Whitu's effectiveness, we are now embarking on further studies to see whether it needs adaptation for use as a cost-effective and scalable well-being intervention for New Zealand's high school students and young people with diabetes. "As always, our team are incredibly grateful to AMRF for your support with this project." You can find the Whitu app on the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.carbonimagineering.whitu or the Whitu app on the Apple store. https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/whitu/id1508135602?ign-mpt=uo=4

With a deep-seated passion for improving quality of life and outcomes for cancer patients, Professor Mark Elwood and Dr Essa Tawfiq are working to discover more about the correlation between cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and how this information can be used to make improvements in policies, systems and patient treatment. In New Zealand healthcare, a system called PREDICT is used to assess people’s future risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), heart attacks and related diseases, to help make treatment decisions primarily around lipid-lowering and blood pressure lowering treatments. Professor Elwood and Dr Tawfiq are working together with their research team on a two-year project in which they use anonymous data from PREDICT – along with data from a secondary system – VARIANZ – to test whether these systems give accurate results for cancer patients, and if this can be improved. The team will assess whether the risks of CVD are increased in cancer patients, giving particular attention to Māori and Pacific populations, who have higher rates of CVD and higher rates of death from cancer. This research will give valuable new information on CVD and cancer, and improve the treatment of individual patients, health policies and systems. 64% of cancer patients in New Zealand live more than 5 years after diagnosis. Currently that means 95,000 cancer survivors live in NZ. Apart from cancer, the greatest risk to these patients is cardiovascular disease. The need for CVD risk prediction models in cancer patients is a current issue in NZ, with a distinct lack of research in this area. In the words of Professor Elwood and Doctor Tawfiq: “Our research can have significant impact on risk assessment and management of CVD in cancer patients. Saying that, cancer patients may have better quality of life and longer survival years.” “With the aim of improving clinical care for individual cancer patients in NZ, our research outcomes will be incorporated into the current computerized CVD risk assessment tools. In clinical practice, the computerized CVD risk prediction models will be supplemented with the option of cancer related questions. This work will allow the CVD risk assessment tools already validated in general populations to be used in the management of individual cancer patients with good prognosis, in primary and specialist care. It will also inform healthcare system decision making to improve care for cancer patients. The importance of such tools in predicting CVD risk in cancer patients has been emphasized, and the limitations in the performance of existing CVD risk prediction tools in cancer patients have been shown by several studies. CVD risks are important in good-prognosis cancer patients; many will survive their cancer but suffer from CVD.” “This research can contribute to the continuum of cancer care via establishing, improving, and maintaining coordination between health care providers. The research will be relevant in developing new or revised clinical guidelines and in policy decisions for improving cancer care for patients, their whānau, friends and communities affected by cancer.” The research of Prof Elwood and Dr Tawfiq is made possible only through the generous donations of people like yourself, enabling the Auckland Medical Research Foundation to continue funding vital Kiwi research projects that hold lasting impact for future generations. Please consider making a donation to AMRF through the link below, and help us to continue supporting medical researchers in New Zealand. Auckland Medical Research Foundation are delighted to have Prof Mark Elwood join us as guest lecturer at our free public lecture on cancer research, on July 13 2021. To register your interest in this please email events@medicalresearch.org.nz