Expertise
I am the Senior Rangahau & Innovation Manager in the Te Manawahoukura Rangahau Centre at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. I have a research partnership and minor co-appointment as a Senior Research Fellow at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute (ABI) and the Department of Surgery, University of Auckland. These diverse positions are a reflection of my multi-disciplinary research interests across biomedical engineering, gastroenterology, surgery, physiology, and mātauranga Māori. My primary research specialty is in developing new devices and techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. In 2019, I founded the Laboratory for Translational Research in Gastroenterology and Emerging Technologies (TARGET Lab). I am also passionate about te reo and te ao Māori. I work hard to act as an ally for mātauranga Māori and kairangahau Māori (researchers), and to create opportunities for tauira Māori (students) and kairangahau Māori, particularly in the field of biomedical engineering.
My research bridges the fields of engineering, physiology, and clinical medicine. I currently lead a research grant from the Health Research Council that supports a team of researchers investigating new interventions for gut health. I previously completed a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society Te Apārangi and have led research projects supported by funding from the Marsden Fund, the Health Research Council, the National Science Challenge on High-Value Nutrition, the Auckland Medical Research Foundation, and Te Tītoki Mataora MedTech Research Translator.