With the attendance of 43 members this year's Queenstown Research Week was dominated by the Centre for Neuroendocrinology being by far the largest delegation. Early into this week of a range of congresses and conferences, CNE helped to organize a 2-day symposium by HNNA (Hypothalamic Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology Australasia) which was attended by a number of colleagues from throughout Australasia. The symposium was seamlessly followed by the New Zealand Medical Sciences Congress.
Throughout the meetings presenters from CNE left an outstanding impression which was reflected by a total of 6 prizes awarded to a postdoctoral fellow and 2 PhD students:
Dr Kristina Smiley (pictured with Prof Dave Grattan) won the HNNA Poster Prize in the postdoc category and the PSNZ (Physiological Society of New Zealand) Emerging Researcher Prize for her work on the role of the hormone prolactin in the parental behaviour of fathers.
Eleni Hackwell (Grattan Lab) was joint winner of the HNNA Poster Prize in the student category and was also awarded the MediRay Best Student Presentation Prize by the New Zealand Society of Endocrinology (NZSE). Eleni's work dissects the role of the lactation-hormone prolactin in influencing pathways that maintain infertility in mothers who are breast-feeding.
Bradley Jamieson (Piet/Campbell Labs) joined Eleni in winning the HNNA Poster Prize in the student category and more importantly won the John Hubbard Award by the PSNZ for excellence in studies towards a PhD. Bradley is interested in how time-keeping neurons in the brain influence fertility and the menstrual cycle in females.