Top award for AUT scientist
Dr Chris Puli’uvea, from the School of Science, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Worth $820,000 over the next four years, the New Zealand Mana Tūāpapa Future Leader Fellowship will enable Dr Puli’uvea to continue researching genetic variants that affect the immune system and are unique to Māori and Pacific peoples.
“I am really honoured to receive this award which will enable me to engage with Māori and Pacific communities to develop culturally sensitive approaches to studying how genetic variation relates to immunological differences.”
Dr Puli’uvea says international clinical trials and genomic studies lack representation of Māori and Pacific peoples which means advancements in precision medicine may not benefit these group, and he wants to address this important gap.
“We know less about how genetics affect diseases for Māori and Pacific peoples compared to other ethnic groups, especially for immunology studies. I hypothesise that Māori and Pacific-specific genetic variants play an important role in immune system function and variation.”
The Aotearoa New Zealand Tāwhia te Mana Research Fellowships support researchers at different career stages to produce excellent and impactful research and to develop into leaders in their fields, and across the whole of the Aotearoa New Zealand science, innovation and technology (SI&T) system. The Fellowships aim to develop and improve retention of future research leaders, support career development and enhance equity and diversity within the SI&T system.
The Tāwhia te Mana Fellowship scheme receives government funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and is managed and administered on behalf of the government by Royal Society Te Apārangi.
It targets candidates at three career stages: early-career researchers/future leaders building the foundations of their career (mana tūāpapa); mid-career researchers, further establishing themselves as research leaders (mana tūānuku); and distinguished researchers with expansive career success and a prominent international reputation (mana tūārangi).
Dr Puli’uvea is one of 20 early career researchers to receive the Future Leader fellowship this year.
The Chair of the Selection Panel, Professor Renwick Dobson of Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury says: “It was a privilege to work with the selection panel and review such excellent Mana Tūāpapa early-career researchers. There is no doubt in my mind that they have the support to excel in their chosen research fields and the potential to become our future thought leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Dr Puli’uvea is also a kaihoe (appointee) of AUT’s Eke Tangaroa programme for early-career Māori and Pacific academics and was inducted as part of the 2023 cohort.