2024 Research Honours Aotearoa event in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington

Medals and awards were presented by the Royal Society Te Apārangi and the Health Research Council of New Zealand to recognise researchers who have achieved excellence in scholarship or innovation or who have made a significant contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand through their research careers. 

REVOLUTIONISING THE TREATMENT OF ASTHMA WORLDWIDE

Professor Richard Beasley CNZM FRSNZ has been awarded the Rutherford Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for revolutionising the treatment of asthma worldwide.

Richard, a clinician researcher, is Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Research Physician at Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley, Professor of Medicine at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, Adjunct Professor at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago and Visiting Professor at University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Over a research career spanning 41 years, Richard has transformed asthma management in New Zealand and worldwide.

His research identified that an asthma medicine was the cause of an epidemic of asthma-related deaths in New Zealand. Restricting access to this drug reduced asthma deaths by two-thirds within a year. This seminal work challenged perceptions on the safety of reliever medicines and shaped future asthma research globally.

Extending this work, his paradigm-shifting advances in asthma management included establishing a single two-in-one inhaler that delivers a reliever and preventer in one. Now increasingly prescribed in New Zealand, this two-in-one inhaler has reduced hospital admissions for asthma by 25 % — with the largest reduction for Māori, addressing a long-standing health inequity.

Through founding and directing the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Richard has proved that investigator-initiated clinical research in New Zealand that challenges dogma can change clinical practice and reduce morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Read more about the Rutherford Medal winner.

NOVEL FOOD INGREDIENT TO ALLEVIATE IRON DEFICIENCY

Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh FRSNZ, of the Riddet Institute at Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, has been awarded the Pickering Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for pioneering research and development. He created a food ingredient to combat iron deficiency and other innovative food technologies that have bridged the gap between scientific discovery and commercial applications.

Most notably, Harjinder has developed FerriPro, an encapsulated iron-protein complex that can alleviate iron deficiencies. The patented technology has been brought to markets globally by the food giant Nestle. It allows food to be fortified with iron that is readily available for the body to absorb, in products that are also shelf-stable and consumer-friendly. Harjinder’s lab has developed a number of other technologies, including dairy products for Fonterra, probiotic technologies, and an encapsulation system for omega-3 fatty acids.

Read more about the Pickering Medal winner.

MARAE-BASED RESEARCHER RECEIVES MEDAL FOR TRANSFORMATIVE WORK IN MĀORI COMMUNITIES 

The Health Research Council of New Zealand awarded the Te Tohu Rapuora Medal for leadership, excellence, and contributions to advancing Māori health to Cheryl Davies from Tu Kotahi Māori Asthma and Research Trust.

Cheryl is a community champion, who started out by providing asthma education and advocacy services to whānau in the wider Wellington region and soon branched out into health research. Her collaborative research includes studies that have guided how health workers work with whānau who have tamariki with asthma. Her results have contributed significantly to the national programme for ‘Warmer Kiwi Homes’. Most recently, her research has been instrumental in establishing a marae-based pain clinic at Kōkiri Marae in Lower Hutt – the first in Aotearoa.

Read more on Te Tohu Rapuora Medal winner. 

DECADES OF DEDICATION TO HOUSING RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Dr Kay Saville-Smith, of the Centre for Research, Evaluation and Social Assessment, has been awarded the Metge Medal by Royal Society Te Apārangi for her three decades of work at the forefront of housing research in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Kay's work to understand the needs of seniors, Māori, new settlers, Pacific peoples, and young and disabled people has deepened understanding of incentives and disincentives to innovation and change.

She has been dedicated to knowledge exchange, to developing other researchers throughout their careers, and to championing the right for all to access and understand research about the things that shape their lives.

Read more on the Metge Medal winner.

REVEALING IDENTITIES THROUGH CLOTHING

Professor Vicki Karaminas, of Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, has been awarded the Humanities Aronui Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for advancing the discipline of fashion studies and for significant contributions to global understanding of masculinities, gender, and sexualities.

Vicki is an internationally recognised expert in media and cultural studies, who has worked tirelessly to establish the discipline of fashion studies as a serious area of intellectual inquiry.

She co-developed a new philosophical framework, ‘Critical Fashion Practice’, to understand clothing as a discourse and object of social inquiry and critique, and has co-authored more than 20 books (including three book series) that have been widely read and translated.

She established the Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand with associated journals.

Her work has made significant contributions to global thinking on masculinities, gender, and sexualities.

Read more about the Humanities Aronui Medal winner. 

A 45-MILLION-YEAR ANTARCTIC RECORD TO UNDERSTAND FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE

Dr Bella Duncan, of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, has been awarded the Hamilton Award by the Royal Society Te Apārangi for investigating how ocean temperatures in Antarctica have changed over 45 million years, including the historical temperature thresholds for ice sheet retreat. Her research indicates that the future effects of climate change will be stark.

Bella developed innovative methods to extract molecular fossils from sediment cores and analyse them using machine learning to investigate links between atmospheric carbon dioxide, tectonics, ocean warming, and ice volume in the ancient past.

The results indicate that when carbon dioxide levels were similar to those projected for the coming century, it caused substantial melting of the ice sheet. 

Bella has generated clear evidence that if carbon-dioxide emissions continue unabated, we can expect significant sea-level rise.

Read more on the Hamilton Award winner.

DECOLONISING THE CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM

Dr Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown (Te Aupōuri), of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, has been awarded the Royal Society Te Apārangi Early Career Research Excellence Award for Humanities for his work to decolonise the child protection system in Aotearoa New Zealand.

It’s well-known that Māori children are overrepresented in our child protection system. Luke’s research has examined this issue through the lens of decolonisation, arguing that while the impacts of colonisation on the child protection system are now largely accepted, the issue of decolonising the child protection system remains understated.

Luke has won this award for his sole-authored paper ‘Te Rito o Te Harakeke: Decolonising Child Protection Law in Aotearoa New Zealand’, which presents a roadmap to legislative reform of the child protection system, based on six tikanga Māori principles that could be implemented to decolonise the system.

Read more on the Early Career Research Excellence Award for Humanities winner.

RESPECTFUL AND INCLUSIVE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT

Associate Professor Dianne Sika-Paotonu was awarded the Callaghan Medal for her evidence-based science communication and engagement efforts for Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific region in Ōtepoti Dunedin on 14 November. She was presented with the medal again to celebrate with her Wellington-based colleagues.

A biomedical scientist with expertise in immunology, Dianne is an Associate Professor of Biomedical & Health Sciences and Associate Dean at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka the University of Otago, Wellington. Her research is centred on cancer, rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, heart health and infectious diseases for vulnerable communities.

Dianne has demonstrated effective evidence-based communication with other researchers, students, and the general public, adapting her content and style to what is most useful and important for each audience. An advocate for two-way communication and involving the community with her research projects, she is helping to reduce health inequities, for example in work to reduce the high rates of rheumatic fever for Māori and Pasifika. Dianne was a leading voice during the Covid-19 pandemic, when her expertise, empathy and engaging manner made her a highly effective communicator.

Read more about the Callaghan Medal winner.