He kōrero whakapuaki

From the Director

Kia ora koutou,

Thank you for your patience! After a long journey (both in planning and in literally travelling from the other side of the world) I’m so pleased to finally be here. On December 1st, I had the privilege of stepping into the role of Director of the Centre for Brain Research. I’ve already heard many times that I have big shoes to fill, and I have no doubt that this is true.

Even though I haven’t known Richard as long as many of you, it is already clear how warm, capable, and truly exceptional he is. In the Netherlands we have a saying: goed voorbeeld doet goed volgen - a good example inspires good followers. And what an example we have here.

I am very much looking forward to what lies ahead and to the steps we will take together. But that is for later. First, our brains deserve a well-earned break. I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season whether you are spending it with those dearest to you, taking time to unwind and reflect, or simply doing whatever your heart desires.

I look forward to meeting many of you in person in the new year. My door (and mind!) will be open as we start January with renewed energy and fresh inspiration.

Together, let’s not only dream about the next steps in brain research but actively shape them, and make a real difference for people living with brain disorders.

Best wishes and happy holidays!

Hanneke
Director, Centre for Brain Research
Te Huinga Hinengaro
The University of Auckland

Sir Richard Faull: This is Your Life

Sir Richard Faull and 'This is your life' host Mark Crysell.

A special ‘This Is Your Life’ farewell event was held for Sir Richard in his final week as Director. More than 100 colleagues, friends, family members, dignitaries and CBR supporters attended the surprise event, which ‘almost’ left Sir Richard lost for words.

The farewell paid tribute to Sir Richard’s leadership of the CBR, which he has grown into an internationally renowned neuroscience hub of nearly 500 researchers, known for its deep partnerships with community and Māori, its nationally significant Human Brain Bank, and its role as a training ground for future neuroscientists.

While stepping aside from the Directorship, Sir Richard will continue to serve as an ambassador for the CBR — strengthening relationships with communities, supporting Māori involvement in brain health, and championing the research teams he helped build.

As we look ahead, we’re delighted to welcome Professor Hanneke Hulst as our new Director, who will continue Sir Richard's commitment to improving the lives of those affected by neurological conditions.

Ngā mihi nui, Sir Richard, and nau mai, Hanneke – we’re excited for this next phase at the CBR.

He's on the shortlist! Sir Richard nominated for New Zealander of the Year

We are delighted to share that Distinguished Professor Sir Richard Faull has been nominated for New Zealander of the Year, recognising his extraordinary contributions to neuroscience and to the countless students, clinicians, researchers and communities he has inspired throughout his career. He has also been named a finalist for Senior New Zealander of the Year.

Winners will be announced at the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards Gala in March 2026. Read more about the nomination at: https://nzawards.org.nz/

Ngā kōrero whakahira

Our stories

Whakamihi ki a koe Associate Professor Makarena Dudley

Tēnā koe Makarena Dudley for her well-deserved promotion to Associate Professor. Makarena has led the CBR’s national mahi to support Māori communities with dementia mate wareware, visiting marae around the motu to kōrero, listen, and connect with kaumātua and whānau. Her dedication ensures Māori experiences and perspectives shape how we understand and respond to mate wareware in Aotearoa. We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone with you!

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe.

$2 million boost for dementia research

NZ Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro with Professor Lynette Tippett at the launch of the Neurological Foundation's new Platform and Programme Grants.

In a major vote of confidence in the incredible talent at the CBR, our researchers have secured two of the four grants awarded in the Neurological Foundation’s new $4m Platforms and Programmes funding round.

The funding is a rare and very welcome boost to neuroscience, aimed at building long-term research capacity across Aotearoa.

A $1m investment has been awarded to the CBR's Mate Wareware–Dementia Prevention Research Platform, and a further $1m to a blood biomarker testing programme for Alzheimer’s disease.

The two complementary grants will significantly expand our dementia research and create a pipeline for future growth.

The platform funding will expand access to the CBR’s Dementia Prevention Research Clinics (DPRCs), integrate mātauranga Māori, and develop a national dementia registry. The biomarker programme will use the DPRC networks to make Alzheimer’s diagnosis faster, simpler, and more accurate through a blood test.

"Without this award the opportunity to honour the gifts of our research participants would have been lost," says Professor Lynette Tippett, who is a principal investigator on the Platform grant with Dr Campbell Le Heron who is based in Christchurch.

Dr Erin Cawston (CBR) leads the biomarker testing programme along with the University of Otago's Associate Professor Joanna Williams and also Dr Le Heron.

"This programme launches at a pivotal moment in the evolution of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. Our research will make sure New Zealand keeps pace with these advances, while tailoring them to our local needs," says Dr Cawston.

A third grant, to set up an ultra-large scale drug discovery for neuroinflammation, will draw heavily on the expertise of the CBR's Professor Michael Dragunow and Dr Hamid Abbasi.

Read more about the grants and the importance of sustained, multi-year research funding.

Recipients of the Neurological Foundation’s new $4 million investment in brain research gathered at Government House for the awards ceremony.

Inaugural Dame Rosie Horton Fellowship
awarded to Dr Helen Murray

Michael Horton (pictured above with Dr Helen Murray) established the Dame Rosie Horton Fellowship to continue his late wife’s legacy of supporting medical research and other social causes.

Helen leads the CBR's research to understand how repeated head injuries affect the brain, using human brain tissue donated to the Neurological Foundation New Zealand Human Brain Bank and international brain banks.

The $283,000 fellowship will allow Murray to investigate ram brains and whether the repeated head-butting behaviour of rams could shed light on long term impacts of sportspeople suffering repeated head blows.

“No one has ever done this type of research before, so it’s a very blue-sky idea, but sheep have a lot of promise as a model of repeated head injury,” says Murray.

She plans to use surveillance cameras and activity tracking collars to observe rams headbutting at the University’s Ngapouri Research Farm in South Waikato, collaborating with Dr Mark Oliver, the farm's research manager.

Back to the image of the future

Sir Richard Faull (pictured) at a symposium of the latest brain imaging research held in Tairāwhiti Gisborne by the Mātai Medical Research Institute, of which Richard is a patron.

From guiding lifesaving surgery to detecting dementia early, imaging is behind it all. We were thrilled to be part of the biggest showcase of NZ’s best MRI and brain imaging research in Tairāwhiti Gisborne, hosted by the Mātai Medical Research Institute.

Back to the Image of the Future Symposium 2025 brought together around 60 imaging experts alongside speakers from Tairāwhiti community health organisations.

The CBR's Associate Professor Miriam Scadeng was among the top experts at the event, presenting on her pioneering work imaging the anatomy and physiology of various species including dolphins, rodents and birds. Her research reveals how an animal’s unique anatomy helps it to survive extreme environments, and asks if this could be adapted to benefit human health.

We were also proudly represented by Dr Helen Murray, Dr Hamid Abbasi and Professor Karen Waldie, among others.

The CBR is proud to sponsor one of 16 Mātai summer internships offered to undergraduate university students who live in the Tairāwhiti Gisborne region. This summer's CBR-Matai intern is Ky Bartlett (Ngāti Porou), who is a first year University of Auckland student with an interest in exercise science. Ky will shadow Dr Josh McGeown, who is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the CBR, and will learn how MRI and medical imaging can reveal how exercise affects the brain and vascular health. Ky is pictured with Mātai CE & research director Dr Samantha Holdsworth.

Ā tātou tāngata

Our people

Introducing the PhD class of 2026

Congratulations to the rising researchers of 2026 who have secured scholarships and awards for next year - you are the ones to watch! A few of the winners share their stories:

Nathaniel Singleton
Nathaniel will begin a PhD next year funded by the Neurological Foundation to continue his research into potential treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI).

Nathaniel has faced significant challenges after experiencing a severe SCI at age 12, which has shaped his motivation to pursue research that could help others following a similar injury.
His research will focus on the body’s immune response to SCI, particularly the role of glial cells. Under normal conditions, these cells help support and maintain a healthy spinal cord environment. However, after injury their response can become harmful, contributing to further tissue damage and scar formation.
Nathaniel hopes to understand if this response can be regulated to reduce damage and promote healing by focusing on a protein called Bach2, which appears to play a role in directing glial cell behaviour.
“I believe this has the potential to inform treatment for spinal cord injury and make a real difference for people's lives," he says.
Nathaniel's PhD will be supervised by Dr Simon O'Carroll.

Zoe Hanlan
Zoe has received a UoA Doctoral Scholarship to work with renowned geneticist Professor Russell Snell on developing a gene-editing therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.
The treatment she will work on aims to switch off a gene involved in producing harmful amyloid proteins seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

Her research will utilise CRISPR–Cas9, a tool often described as molecular scissors that can 'cut' DNA at a precise location so it can no longer make damaging proteins.
In the coming year, Zoe will be involved in testing the therapy on the CBR's unique transgenic Alzheimer’s disease sheep in Australia.
"Although our research is still in the preclinical stage, this approach brings us closer to addressing the underlying biological drivers of Alzheimer’s. With each advance, we move toward a future where gene-based treatments may offer new options.”

Lachlan Jensen
Summer scholar Lachlan Jensen (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine) is exploring the relationship between cultural identity and cognition among Māori, using data contributed by kaumātua through the Māori Dementia Prevalence Study. The 10-week Ngā Motu Whakahī scholarship will support Lachlan to explore how kaumātua perceive their identity and culture, and how this affects their cognition.

Lachlan hopes the findings will help guide health professionals and iwi and hapū to provide care for kaumātua shaped by Māori perspectives and experiences.
"My nana lived with dementia mate wareware, so I feel inspired to learn more and contribute to research that can create meaningful change. It is a privilege to work with data from my own people, with the hope that it will support positive outcomes in te ao Māori.”

Evelyn Jade
Evelyn has received a Neurological Foundation Doctoral Scholarship to study a rare neurodegenerative condition called neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID). Mostly found in Asia, NIID has recently been diagnosed in Māori whānau in Aotearoa. It is caused by a mutation in a gene called NOTCH2NLC and leads to symptoms such as muscle weakness and dementia.

This project aims to establish a research platform for NOTCH2NLC testing in New Zealand to improve diagnosis and understanding, and to lay the groundwork for future development of treatments.
Evelyn will be supervised by Associate Professor Emma Scotter; Dr Jessie Jacobsen; Dr Nicole Edwards; Dr Miran Mrkela.

Meikyla Mason (above, pictured with Sir Richard Faull) has received a UoA Doctoral Scholarship to continue her work in the Faull Lab studying Huntington’s disease (HD) and X-linked dystonia–parkinsonism (XDP), two inherited brain disorders affecting movement.
The two conditions are distinct however both involve changes in the same brain region, the basal ganglia, and share common motor abnormalities and brain changes.
Meikyla is fascinated by the globus pallidus, an understudied region of the basal ganglia responsible for sending signals out, so is likely implicated in Huntington's symptoms.
"I am incredibly fortunate to work with post-mortem human brain tissue and amongst the world-class neuroscientists at the Centre for Brain Research," Meikyla says, adding that the mentorship she has received in the CBR has been 'incredible'.
"This ethos is reflected in the team's community-led work, which instils the importance of upholding meaningful relationships with Huntington's and mate wareware communities across the motu - essentially taking taonga to taonga."