Two awards at PSNZ Prize Forum
Friday 17 December 2021
Two CNE members won prizes at this year’s virtual Prize Forum of the Physiological Society of New Zealand (PSNZ).
CNE PhD Prize for microglia research on polycystic ovary syndrome
Tuesday 23 November 2021
Like every year, the 2021 CNE PhD Prize was fought out with some really high calibre science presentations and we are delighted to announce that this year’s winner is Aisha Sati from the Campbell group.
Three Marsden grants for the Centre
Monday 15 November 2021
Drs Rosie Brown, Sharon Ladyman, and Joon Kim have been successful with their applications for this year’s funding round of the Royal Society’s Marsden Fund grants.
MBIE support for development of new mammal-specific pest eradication strategy
Thursday 16 September 2021
Researchers Prof Greg Anderson and Dr Caroline Decourt have received MBIE funding for developing a new strategy to eradicate pest mammals which put native plants and animals at risk.
Two HRC project grants for the Centre
Wednesday 28 July 2021
Researchers from the Centre for Neuroendocrinology were successful in acquiring grants for two projects during this year’s Health Research Council funding round.
Otago proud to pledge to openness in animal research
Tuesday 27 July 2021
The University of Otago is proud to be an inaugural signatory of an agreement which pledges openness in animal research and teaching.
OMSRS Speaker Prize for parental behaviour research
Thursday 24 June 2021
Dr Kristina Smiley has won the research staff award for her presentation at the 258th scientific meeting of the Otago Medical School Research Society. Her colleague Dr Teodora Georgescu was runner-up.
Researchers find “missing link”
Thursday 3 December 2020
Otago researchers have found the “missing link between stress and infertility”.
CNE PhD Prize for research on the reward of motherhood
Friday 27 November 2020
The 2020 edition of the annual CNE PhD Prize saw 4 contestants compete for the trophy. In the end, Judith Swart from Rosie Brown’s lab came in first with her research on the reward mechanisms in the brains of mothers.
Distinguished Researcher Award for Associate Professor Rebecca Campbell
Friday 27 November 2020
The School of Biomedical Sciences has announced the winners of this year’s staff awards for teaching, research, and research support. To her own big surprise, Associate Professor Rebecca Campbell won the Distinguished Researcher Award.
CNE awarded for Postgraduate Research Culture Excellence
Monday 23 November 2020
The University of Otago has awarded the Centre for Neuroendocrinology for creating an outstanding postgraduate research culture.
Three Marsden grants for the CNE
Wednesday 11 November 2020
In this year’s funding round by the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society three researchers of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology have been successful in attracting research support. Drs Kristina Smiley and Joe Yip both receive a Fast-Start Grant as emerging researchers and Karl Iremonger is awarded a Standard Grant.
Unusual suspect: Could deficient 'brain glue' make you infertile?
Monday 2 November 2020
The most common cause of infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), affects about 10% of all women. Dr Elodie Desroziers from the Centre for Neuroendocrinology has just been awarded the prestigious Hercus Fellowship by the New Zealand Health Research Council to investigate the brain’s role in this disorder.
Breastfeeding hormone makes new fathers better dads
Monday 7 September 2020
Fathers of newborn babies can be forgiven for feeling a little hormonal – a new study has shown they are being flooded by the same chemical as a breastfeeding mother.
Why mothers care: New study on how pregnancy hormones change the brain
Wednesday 1 July 2020
Dr Rosie Brown and Prof Dave Grattan have received funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand to investigate how pregnancy hormones influence the mother’s brain to ensure she looks after her offspring appropriately. The project is co-led by the two researchers from the Departments of Physiology and Anatomy, respectively.
Positive stress - emerging researcher wins prize for stress studies
Wednesday 17 June 2020
Dr Joon Kim from the Iremonger lab has been awarded the 2020 Emerging Researcher Prize of the Brain Health Research Centre (BHRC) of the University of Otago. The prize recognises his recent work on stress neurons in the brain which he presented at a BHRC seminar.
Zebrafish study continues to attract awards
Wednesday 26 February 2020
Kaj Kamstra has won another award for his work on the control of food intake in zebrafish. At the Swiss Winter Conference on Ingestive Behaviour in St. Moritz he received the Young Investigator Award for his outstanding presentation.
Carl Smith Medal for Karl Iremonger
Wednesday 20 November 2019
Dr Karl Iremonger is this year’s recipient of the Rowheath Trust Award and Carl Smith Medal. The University’s early career award recognizes outstanding research performance, including the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge and development of innovative technology.
A lactation hormone in males?
Tuesday 12 November 2019
The hormone prolactin has many functions beyond its originally described role in milk production. Prof Dave Grattan and Dr Rosie Brown have now received funding from the Royal Society Marsden Fund to investigate the role of prolactin in parental behaviour of fathers at the Centre for Neuroendocrinology.
A fat hormone that regulates blood sugar
Wednesday 6 November 2019
Each year the Centre for Neuroendocrinology awards the CNE PhD Prize to an outstanding PhD student. This year, in a very tight competition, Kaj Kamstra won the prize for his work on the hormone leptin in zebrafish and how it controls metabolism.
The brain's control over diabetic hearts
Thursday 10 October 2019
Shivani Sethi just won the 2019 PhD student speaker prize of the Otago Medical School Research Society for her work on understanding how the brain controls the autonomous nervous system driving the heart in diabetes.
Sextuple success by CNE trio
Monday 9 September 2019
A huge delegation of CNE members attended this year's Queenstown Research Week to present their research at the HNNA Symposium and Medical Sciences Congress. The high quality of the work resulted in 6 awards being won.
HRC grant to investigate stress in motherhood
Friday 5 July 2019
Dr Karl Iremonger is interested in the brain circuits that regulate stress. Together with Prof Dave Grattan (Associate Investigator) he has now received funding from the New Zealand Health Research Council to investigate the neuronal mechanisms that control the changes in behaviour and stress levels during pregnancy and early motherhood over a period of 3 years.
Student success at the 2019 BHRC Symposium
Wednesday 12 June 2019
PhD student Bradley Jamieson won the award for best oral presentation at the Brain Health Research Centre (BHRC) Symposium 2019 for his work on the regulation of fertility by the brain’s clock. Shivani Sethi took home the trophy for the best poster presentation of her PhD work on the brain networks that are involved in altered autonomous nervous system activity in diabetes.
Student wins prize for work on zebrafish
Thursday 30 May 2019
Kaj Kamstra just won a prize for his 3-minute presentation about his PhD work with zebrafish at the Postgraduate Symposium of the School of Biomedical Sciences.
CNE student awarded for report on summer research project
Wednesday 1 May 2019
Eleni Hackwell from the Grattan Lab has been awarded a prize for the report on her summer research project on lactational infertility.
Two postdocs successful in attaining research support
Wednesday 13 March 2019
Drs Kristina Smiley and Teodora Georgescu have been awarded project support grants from the British Society for Neuroendocrinology to help in their research on the hormone prolactin.
Researcher Profile - Dr Richard Piet
Tuesday 12 March 2019
Dr Richard Piet is one of the recent researchers to become a principal investigator in the Centre for Neuroendocrinology. “My research focuses on the neurophysiological regulation of the circadian clock,” Richard says, “and how that rhythm might impact reproduction.”
Researcher Profile - Associate Professor Christine Jasoni
Monday 4 February 2019
Associate Professor Christine Jasoni is a developmental biologist focused on understanding the developing brain and particularly how early life challenges affect the shaping of the brain.
Researcher Profile - Dr Karl Iremonger
Friday 4 January 2019
The work of Dr Karl Iremonger’s laboratory provides insight into the neural systems that control stress and the changes that may occur in stress-related disorders.
Researcher Profile - Professor Allan Herbison
Wednesday 12 December 2018
Professor Allan Herbison is a neuroendocrinologist working with some of the strangest cells in the human body; gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons.