Events

Speaker: Associate Professor Tudor Fulga, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, UK.
By merging the core principles of cell/genome engineering and synthetic biology, Associate Professor Fulga and colleagues are endeavouring to create artificial signalling pathways and gene networks responsive to exogenous cues and/or endogenous metabolites. Ultimately, their aim is to establish new experimental frameworks for programmed regulation and correction of gene expression, and apply these systems to develop cell-based therapies for acquired or inherited human disease.

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Horns in antelopes, tusks in elephants and antlers in deer are all examples of animal weapons. The largest and most exaggerated of these structures are often used in competition among males for mating opportunities with females. These large structures are predicted to be energetically expensive for animals to maintain and carry. Yet, the costs associated with the metabolic maintenance of these traits for individuals of different sizes remains a major gap in our understanding of positive size scaling. 

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Plastic pollution is an urgent global issue on the cusp of constituting ‘planetary boundary threat’. This issue is being explored locally by a community engaged ‘living labs’ research initiative supported by Massey University.

A citizen science approach is being facilitated by the Environmental Network Manawatu (ENM) with the support of PNCC, MRLF and Iwi. The immediate aim is to benchmark all forms of plastic pollution, at the unit level of a ‘City’ and to then draw on this information and relational network to develop and implement a community-based plastic pollution strategy.

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Professor Richard D Jones on why is sleep apnoea bad for your brain, who do we need sleep, and just what are local sleeps. 

Jones is Director of the Christchurch Neurotechnology Research Programme based in the New Zealand Brain Research Institute, a senior biomedical engineer & neuroscientist at Christchurch Hospital, an Adjunct Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Psychology, at the University of Canterbury, and a Research Professor in Medicine at the University of Otago. 

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In 2016, the National Institute of Health convened the Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Advancing Research to Prevent Youth Suicide. The goal of this workshop was to summarise youth suicide prevention efforts with the aim of developing strategies and guiding research on youth suicide over the next decade.

Professor Todd Little will talk about how policy and research can optimise youth suicide prevention efforts by highlighting strategies and recommendations that came from this workshop. These strategies include recommendations for improving data systems, enhancing data collection and analysis methods, and strengthening the research and practice community.


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Fire is a natural part of Yellowstone National Park, and the plants and animals are well adapted to large, severe forest fires that historically burned every 100 to 300 years. But fire activity is increasing as climate warms, and what this means for the future of the world’s first national park is unclear.

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During the 1990s, the maternity system in New Zealand underwent rapid and radical change, making it unique in the world. How did the policy changes come about? And what happened when a former midwife and a public health epidemiologist set out to analytically examine this system, with data on close to a quarter of a million pregnancies? The results might have been surprising. Perhaps more surprising, however, was what unfolded following the publication of their study. Join Ellie Wernham and Professor Diana Sarfati for their talk on the widely reported research.

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Although New Zealand has historically been on the forefront of women's rights, gender inequity across various domains continues to endure. However, in recent years, the topic of reproductive rights has received elevated attention, both nationally and globally. To these ends, we investigated New Zealanders' perceptions of women’s reproductive autonomy.

Specifically, we examined how the endorsement of sexist attitudes may affect attitudes toward two areas of women’s reproductive experiences:

• Attitudes toward abortion
• Attitudes toward breastfeeding in public

Analyses were conducted using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a large national longitudinal panel sample of New Zealand adults. Our results suggest that although attitudes toward gender roles are shifting toward increasingly egalitarian views, sexism nonetheless continues to affect public support for women's reproductive autonomy in New Zealand.

Yanshu Huang is a doctoral candidate in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the interface between gender role ideologies and attitudes toward women’s reproductive autonomy.

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Join the Victoria University of Wellington Coastal Ecology Lab (VUCEL) team to learn about the marine biology research that happens right here around Wellington. Visitors can touch tanks of marine creatures, see research equipment in action, ask our researchers anything they want to know, and learn about marine biology research from the interactive displays. This annual event is the only time VUCEL is open to the public, all year.

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WiDS Wellington is an independent event organised to coincide with the annual Global Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference held at Stanford University.

The Global WiDS Conference aims to inspire and educate data scientists worldwide, regardless of gender, and to support women in the field.

All genders are invited to attend WiDS regional events, which features outstanding women doing outstanding work.

This one-day conference provides an opportunity to hear about the latest data science related research and applications in a number of domains, and connect with others in the field.

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The neuronal circuits in the brain that are laid down in the first few years of life are modified by experience and the environment throughout childhood and adolescence.

During this talk, Professor John Rostas, University of Newcastle, Australia, and Brain Research New Zealand board member explains how this capacity for reorganisation – neuroplasticity – persists in the adult brain and is responsible for our continued ability to learn and our capacity to compensate for recovery from brain injury.

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A curated evening and panel discussion on Pacific Oceanscapes - lost, found and sustained.

Significant and worsening threats to marine environments mean that urgent, internationally co-ordinated action to protect the global ocean is essential. This panel discussion will delve into how human action affects the marine environments and why research does not always drive decisions by government agencies, and attempts to inspire innovative future problem-solving, as well as new ways of engaging communities with our moana (ocean).

Tickets from $20-$30.

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Dr Liana Machado will speak about the potential for accessible activities, such as engaging in physical activity or volunteering in your community, to improve cognitive performance. In collaboration with U3A.

RSVP is essential to attend. Details here.

Business ecosystems—a highly complex form of joint value creation activities between partly loosely connected, but highly interdependent actors—is becoming incr

Engaging in ecosystems requires incumbent firms to engage in new partnerships—with partners that might include competitors or unknown actors from foreign industries. In such contexts, individual stakeholder utility functions are often opaque, as ecosystem members hesitate to reveal details of their strategy.

Sabrina Schneider is an Assistant Professor for Technology Management at the University of Kassel, Germany. She holds a PhD from EBS University for Business and Law, Germany. Her research centres on the strategic implications of digital technologies on business and society.

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Dr Evans, a proud NZ ex-Pat living in the US will discuss the discovery and biochemistry of leukotrienes and the development of the cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist SingulairTM (montelukast).

She will outline the drug discovery process from understanding leukotriene effects on asthma and allergies, identifying and cloning targets within the leukotriene pathway and the long process to develop an effective, safe therapy that is not a me-too drug.

Dr Evans’s team cloned the CysLT1 receptor after Singulair was launched. The receptor was identified on human lung smooth muscle and inflammatory cells. Montelukast came off patent in 2012 and the generic form was approved by Pharmac in 2018 for New Zealanders suffering from asthma and allergies.

Free admission 

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In the aftermath of 25 years of brutal Indonesian occupation, NGO numbers in Timor Leste expanded from just 34 in 2000 to over 231 by 2002. With US Peace Troops pulling-out in 2002 however, NGO activity steadily declined and international donor focus shifted from livelihoods, women’s rights, and assisting the vulnerable, to building the capacity of the State. In keeping to its stated aims of supporting the marginalised, Caritas Aotearoa NZ has maintained active partnership with Dili-based women’s empowerment NGO HAFOTI since 2002, facilitating women across seven districts achieve greater wellbeing, agency and self-determination. This presentation follows the journey of HAFOTI and explores Caritas’ current, five-year MFAT-funded partnership programme – now into its third year. Phil Brass received a MIntDev at Massey University in 2017. After working more than twenty years in the corporate sector in Dunedin and Nelson, Phil moved to Wellington to complete a BA in Development Studies and Honours in Religious studies at Victoria University of Wellington. In 2017, after completion of his Master’s degree, he began working as International Programmes Coordinator for Caritas Aotearoa NZ and is now responsible for Caritas development partnerships in Cambodia, Fiji, Timor Leste and Central America. A keen cyclist and swimmer, Phil can also sometimes be observed jamming along with local muso’s wherever he is working – hoping music may in some-way mask his inability to pick up the local language.

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The human brain begins forming just 16 days after conception, but in many ways, brain development is a lifelong project. In the first of two evening talks, our speakers look at how the brain develops from a single cell into the command centre for the whole body. They’ll discuss important windows in development, and the many factors that shape and influence brains on the journey to adulthood.

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Today, thanks to the advances in visual and imaging technologies, we can as easily see ourselves from the inside as on the outside. Yet, our body involves not only structures, but also functions. The majority of them are rhythmical. The most obvious one is perhaps the sleep-wake cycle, also known as circadian. But there are many other rhythms, operating on different time-scales, such as the beating of the heart, breathing, brain activity and metabolic activity. The body is an orchestra of irregular rhythms in which the key to good functioning lies in their coordination.

In this talk, Prof Aneta Stefanoska from Lancaster University in the UK, will discuss technological advances in the monitoring of a variety of biological clocks and ways of modelling them mathematically. she will also introduce new physics that is being developed to describe the interactions between the rhythms and how this can improve our understanding of diseases such as dementia, malaria and melanoma, and facilitate their diagnosis and treatment.

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University of Canterbury Psychology Professor Julia Rucklidge will explore the topic in her upcoming UC Connect public lecture: Feeding the brain: exploring nutrition’s role in mental health.

First she will briefly describe what is known about dietary patterns and mental health. Then she will discuss the recent paradigm shift of using broad-based micronutrients to treat psychiatric disorders, reviewing the hypothesized mechanisms of action and the evidence to date.
Professor Rucklidge’s public lecture, Feeding the brain, intends to challenge our current treatment regime for mental disorders and suggest one alternative course of action.

Julia Rucklidge is a professor of Clinical Psychology in UC’s Psychology department and the Director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group. Her interests in nutrition and mental illness grew out of research showing poor outcomes for individuals with significant psychiatric illness despite receiving conventional treatments for their conditions.

In the last decade, Professor Rucklidge and her lab have been running clinical trials investigating the role of broad-spectrum micronutrients in the expression of mental illness, specifically ADHD, mood disorders, anxiety and stress. She is passionate about helping people find alternative treatments for their psychiatric symptoms and being a voice for those who have been let down by the current public healthcare system.

Professor Rucklidge has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, has given invited talks all over the world on her work on nutrition and mental health, and her work is often featured in the media. An award-winning researcher, she received the Ballin Award from the New Zealand Psychological Society, a Braveheart award for her contribution to making Christchurch a better place to live, and was named among the most influential women in New Zealand Innovation & Science in the Women of Influence 2018 awards. Her 2014 TEDx talk has been viewed close to a million times.

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The Story Collider returns to Wellington for our first show of 2019. Join us Tuesday 12 March for a night of true, personal stories about science told live on stage.

From the tragic to the hilarious, we'll explore the deeply human side of science with stories drawn from everyday experiences and truly uncommon occurrences.

This live performance involves five brave souls telling stories about how their lives have changed for ten minutes each. No notes, no props, and no powerpoint presentation. This show will feature all kinds of storytellers -- researchers studying brain and climate science, a maths educator, health tech entrepreneur and "moth lady".

Tickets $10-20

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This seminar will focus on Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in Hawaiʻi, and use it as a case example for examining articulations of place and space, or how areas can be understood, read, and interpreted to push particular agendas.

Furthermore, it will comment on the often-conflicting expressions of belonging and possession, how they are enacted and embodied both on and off the mountain, and how they have been used in contemporary discourse regarding the sacred. Finally, it will offer insight into how resistance efforts may be grounded and motivated by connections to place.

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The human brain begins forming just 16 days after conception, but in many ways, brain development is a lifelong project. In the second of two evening talks, our speakers look at how the brain continues to change even after we reach physical maturity, and how it declines and eventually dies.

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Public lecture by the 2019 Te Piringa - Faculty of Law Visiting Scholar Emeritus Professor Michel Prieur, University of Limoges. Is it necessary to create a new international convention on the environment? Would it be more appropriate to create a third covenant – Covenant on Human Right to the Environment – in addition to the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?

Free admission

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There are 6000-year-old hieroglyphics carved into the pyramids depicting the teenagers of the time as being self-obsessed, defiant and unmotivated - that’s sounding pretty familiar don’t you think?

During adolescence (which is a lot longer than you think by the way!) part of your teenage brain “shuts for renovations”. This is the part of the brain responsible for controlling your teenager’s moods, for understanding consequences and for thinking about the well-being of others. So, whilst you can’t expect lots of those behaviours during adolescence, there are ways that you can enhance and maximise the times when they can. Understanding the changes that are taking place for your teen will help you to navigate successfully these important and formative years.

Join Nathan Wallis for an in-depth look into the teen brain.


General Admission: $38.88

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In May 2018 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution called “Towards a Global Pact for the Environment”. As a result a new working group was established in Nairobi to study the feasibility of a new universal international convention on the general principles of environmental law.

Is it necessary to create a new international convention on the environment? Would it be more appropriate to create a third covenant – Covenant on Human Right to the Environment – in addition to the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?

In this public lecture, Professor Michel Prieur from the University of Limoges, will attempt to answer these and other questions.

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In recent years, predictive coding has gained considerable popularity in cognitive science and philosophy of mind as a powerful theoretical approach (Hohwy, 2013; Clark, 2016). The basic concept of “predictive coding” is that the brain endeavours to minimize prediction errors: it tries to anticipate the current situation so as to reduce the loss of energy required to deal with the unexpected. This talk discusses why—although this does not make sense—it may still be our best approach toward understanding the mind as it really is; as a much more creative and manipulative device, hooked on the pleasure in prediction error, and keen on reliving the rewards of the past.


For more information contact: Dougal McNeill
dougal.mcneill@vuw.ac.nz

04 463 6803

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Our brains are ourselves, but how often do we think about them? Members of local neurological community groups and Brain Health Research Centre researchers will be in the Octagon with the giant inflatable brain happy to answer questions or have a brain-related chat.

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Professor Vincent Mor, 2019 Visiting Erskine Fellow, will give a lecture on designing and disseminating the next generation of interventions for people with dementia.
Most non-pharmacologic interventions designed to reduce behaviour problems with demented patients have not been tested in the real world setting of functioning health care systems.

Implementing interventions by existing health system staff members introduces considerable variation which can compromise the ability of an evidence-based intervention to be effective. 

Readiness to test an intervention that has been shown to be effective in a functioning health care system requires “buy-in” from health system leadership and considerable effort to appropriately modify the intervention to make practical implementation feasible.

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Join BlockchainNZ and Digital Identity New Zealand for a quick fire discussion about privacy and data and the role it plays in blockchain and digital identity.

For details of the Auckland event, check techalliance.nz.

Plastic waste is a global problem. Plastic that is dumped in the sea or ends up in the ocean can accumulate on beaches or be transported many kilometres by ocean currents. Plastic destroys marine environments.

Join us for a talk with Cawthron scientist Heni Unwin from the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge who is developing a new digital tool to track how ocean currents transport plastics.

Using modelling data for Cook Strait and Tasman-Golden Bays, they have produced an interactive tool which allows users to “drop” a piece of virtual plastic into the ocean and watch where the ocean currents take it. This kind of tool could eventually help to manage the impact of plastics in our marine environment and can also be used as a teaching resource for students studying marine pollution.

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Panel discussion with the Centre for Brain Research around learning differences and autism. Speakers include Associate Professor Johanna Montgomery, Associate Professor Karen Waldie, Dr Jessie Jacobsen, and Dr Rosamund Hill. 

Register on Eventbrite. 

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Focusing on tertiary education and the realities of the changing nature of work and both digital and disruptive innovation, Professor Gallavin contends that the question is not whether tertiary education faces an existential challenge, but that such a challenge has reached crisis proportions. Drawing upon a global perspective of the sector, Professor Gallavin floats what he sees as some of the options open to the New Zealand tertiary sector in the 21st century – ultimately arguing that the sector has to look back to move forward.

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Virginia Eubanks, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY (USA) will speak about how data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models are increasingly affecting vulnerable people in society – the poor and working-class. 

In an age where New Zealand is increasingly moving towards automation of public systems and social services, join us to consider the important question of whether inequality is also becoming automated in Aotearoa, and what can be done about it. Discussion and Q+A to be led by Tohatoha CEO, Mandy Henk.

Ticket Information:
Waged: $25.00
Unwaged: $10.00

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Batten disease is a group of devastating inherited brain diseases, sharing symptoms with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and causing seizures and blindness in children.

Associate Professor Steph Hughes, Department of Biochemistry, Brain Health Research Centre and Brain Research New Zealand, explains that until recently it was a certain death sentence. Now there are promising treatment options, moving us closer to curing these diseases and perhaps better understanding adult brain diseases as well.

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Professor John Reynolds, Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Brain Health Research Centre and Brain Research New Zealand, will talk about the current treatment for Parkinson’s disease and how ongoing research hopes to improve the availability of treatment options, in current clinical trial and in the future.

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Epilepsy is the most common serious brain illness in children and can be associated with significant learning, movement and behaviour problems. One in four children with severe epilepsy die before they become adults.

Professor Lynette Sadleir, from the Wellington School of Medicine and the University of Otago's Brain Health Research Centre, explains that historically, curses and demonic possession were thought to cause epilepsy, with treatments involving amulets and exorcisms. Research has now revealed that changes in a child's genetic code is what actually causes epilepsy and novel therapies, such as cannabidiol, are being shown to improve the outcome for children with genetic epilepsies.

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New Zealand is a proud leader and innovator in the care given to babies who are born preterm, or who are struggling with other health complications.

Dr Max Berry from the Wellington School of Medicine and the University of Otago's Brain Health Research Centre, explains that understanding how preterm birth or early life adversity impacts brain development is essential as we work to refine and improve all aspects of care that these vulnerable babies receive.

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The Compassion in Healthcare Conference is the first ever to happen in New Zealand. We are bringing together experts in compassionate care, from scientists to clinicians, to inspire, teach and share the practices of compassion in day to day clinical care through interactive talks and workshops.

This two day conference will benefit doctors, nurses, medical students, paramedics, social workers, psychologists, therapists, allied health providers and anyone involved in the caring profession.

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From climate change and pesticides to disease outbreaks and nutritional advice, explore the ways in which scientific issues are covered by the media.

With over a decade of experience working on the front lines of breaking news and complex science, the Science Media Centre is uniquely placed to observe the ways controversial issues emerge and evolve in the public arena.

This seminar by SMC Director Dacia Herbulock will explore the ways in which science and related issues are covered in the New Zealand media and how scientists' actions influence this.

It will examine the realities of modern media, sources of hype and spin, the role of experts in a crisis, conflicts of interest, transparency and trust in science, and reflect on ways that scientists can make the most of opportunities the media offers and participate more effectively in emerging public conversations.

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