Eight Health Research Council (HRC) Explorer Grants have been awarded to University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka kairangahau.
Worth a combined $1.2 million, the grants support research into topics as varied as economic policy and oral inflammation.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) Distinguished Professor Greg Cook congratulates each of the recipients.
Distinguished Professor Greg Cook
“Research which will have a genuine impact on the health of New Zealanders is being undertaken across the University of Otago every day – each of these projects highlights the amazing scope of that work,” he says.
“I look forward to seeing what our researchers can achieve, thanks to this Health Research Council funding.”
HRC Director of Investments Mr Stacey Pene says Explorer Grants are a great way to support researchers with innovative research ideas that have a good chance of making a revolutionary change to how we manage health in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Many of these studies are researching new treatments and technology that could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our healthcare system and developing new diagnostic and treatment tools, with the help of AI, in priority health areas for New Zealand such as cancer and children’s mental health,” he says.
Otago’s 2026 Explorer Grants recipients:
Dr Divya Adhia, Department of Surgery and Critical Care (Dunedin)
Rewiring risk: Catching pain in the act with early preventive neuromodulation
24 months, $150,000
Many people in Aotearoa New Zealand develop chronic pain that becomes long-lasting and difficult to treat, yet research suggests it may be possible to intervene before pain becomes chronic. Chronic pain places a heavy burden on individuals, families, and the health system. Most treatments begin only after pain has become entrenched, limiting their effectiveness. This project tests a new idea: using early, non-invasive brain stimulation to reduce the risk of chronic pain developing. We will target three major brain networks that process attention, self-reflection, and sensory signals, aiming to shift vulnerable brain states toward healthier patterns. This approach focuses on prevention rather than treating established pain. If successful, this research could lead to earlier and more cost-effective strategies to prevent chronic pain, reducing long-term healthcare use and improving quality of life. By exploring a high-risk, high-reward approach, it has the potential to transform how pain is understood and managed in New Zealand.
Dr Snita Ahir-Knight and Dr Alex Walker, Department of Psychological Medicine (Wellington)
Understanding clinical notes and co-writing from youth in mental health services
18 months, $150,000
Young people may feel that clinical notes are written about them rather than with them. This can lead to disempowerment and damage to trust within the therapeutic relationship. An underexplored solution is co-writing notes. This research project will investigate the views of young people (aged 14–25) and clinicians on co-writing clinical notes. We will conduct exploratory focus groups with young people and clinicians to investigate how co-writing clinical notes may impact the care received in mental health services. This research is expected to contribute to improved youth mental health outcomes by strengthening young people’s involvement in their own care. It innovatively reframes the routine act of notetaking within services as a key part of the therapeutic relationship between clinicians and young people. Co-writing notes could significantly enhance the care that young people receive within mental health services.
Dr Christina Deng, Faculty of Dentistry
Sprayable GLMO Mucoadhesive Gel for oral mucositis
18 months, $150,000
Oral mucositis, painful mouth ulcers caused by cancer treatment, can make eating, speaking, and continuing therapy extremely difficult. Current treatments often provide only short-term relief or are uncomfortable to use. This project aims to develop a gentle, natural gel that can be sprayed inside the mouth to reduce inflammation and support healing. The key ingredient is Green-Lipped Mussel Oil (GLMO), a New Zealand marine product known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Our early laboratory studies show that GLMO can reduce inflammatory signals without harming oral cells. We will combine GLMO with safe, food-grade ingredients to create a gel that adheres well to the mouth and slowly releases its benefits. The formulation will be tested using oral cell models and an animal model of mucositis to assess safety and effectiveness. If successful, this commercialisable gel could improve comfort, reduce treatment interruptions, and enhance quality of life for patients undergoing cancer therapy.
Dr Pritika Narayan, Department of Surgery and Critical Care (Wellington)
From ethnicity to genotype: precision CAD risk in Aotearoa
24 months, $150,000
This research focuses on a unique community-led cohort with high rates of early-onset heart disease driven by genetic factors that current medical tests cannot see. Historically, this population survived extreme famine, which may have selected for genes that helped store energy but are now harmful in a modern environment. While we grow our study group to better understand complex risk, we will immediately focus on specific heart health markers to find large-effect genetic variants. By using advanced DNA sequencing to study this "famine-to-feast" history, we aim to find the biological causes of heart attacks that current models miss. This work will create better screening tools and targeted treatments, ensuring that a person’s ancestry no longer leads to preventable heart disease.
Associate Professor Daniel Pletzer, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Do antimicrobial peptides work because of what they are, or where they come from
24 months, $150,000
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health crisis, making once-treatable infections increasingly difficult to cure as antibiotics lose their effectiveness. Drug-resistant bacteria already cause over a million deaths each year worldwide, and some of the most dangerous pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, form biofilms that protect them from both antibiotics and the immune system. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), short molecules used by many organisms as part of their natural defences, are widely viewed as promising alternatives to antibiotics. However, current discovery strategies rely on a critical but untested assumption: that these peptides work because they come from biological genomes, rather than because of their basic chemical properties. This project directly tests that assumption by comparing genomic peptides with carefully designed synthetic peptides that share the same chemical features. By isolating biological origin as the only difference, the research will clarify what truly drives antimicrobial activity in AMPs.
Dr Jack Scott, Department of Psychology
Domain-adapted AI for equitable brain-based cognitive assessment in ADHD
24 months, $150,000
ADHD assessment in children currently relies on behavioural tests and parent reports, which cannot easily distinguish whether a child has genuine cognitive limitations or simply performed poorly due to anxiety, fatigue, or cultural discomfort with testing. Artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to resolve this, but tools trained on overseas predominantly European populations risk performing poorly for Māori children if deployed in New Zealand without local adaptation. We aim to develop a brain-based assessment tool using AI and electroencephalography (EEG), which measures brain activity through sensors placed on the scalp. By training our AI on international data and then adapting it using specialist AI techniques on census-matched New Zealand samples with equitable Māori representation, we can create AI-powered cognitive assessment tools responsive to our New Zealand context, without requiring thousands of participants. If successful, this cost-effective tool could provide objective brain-based assessment to support clinical decision making, deployable outside of main centres.
Dr Chang Yu, Department of Public Health (Wellington)
Economic policy and people’s health in Aotearoa New Zealand
24 months, $150,000
Economic policy remains one of the most powerful levers governments can pull to shape societal outcomes. Yet, existing research has largely remained within the boundaries of traditional economic paradigms, focusing narrowly on indicators such as GDP growth, employment rates, and corporate behaviour. While these outcomes are important, they reflect a market-centric and siloed view that overlooks a critical question: How do economic policies affect the health and wellbeing of people? This project offers a transformative shift by reframing economic policy not merely as a tool for managing markets, but as a determinant of public health and individual wellbeing. We propose an integrative, multidisciplinary framework that brings together economics and public health to understand how shifts in fiscal and monetary policy—such as changes in interest rates and local taxation—reverberate through household finances, housing stability, and ultimately, mental and physical health outcomes.
Yuan Yue, Faculty of Medicine - Dunedin
EEG-based neuro-subtypes of obesity: towards precision GLP-1 therapy
24 months, $150,000
People with obesity respond very differently to weight-loss medications such as GLP-1 therapies, yet the reasons behind this variation are underexplored. In our preliminary work, we used non-invasive brain recordings (EEG) and machine learning methods to identify distinct brain-based subtypes of obesity in women. These subtypes showed clear differences in eating behaviour, appetite hormones, and brain activity within regions that control hunger, reward, and food enjoyment. Importantly, these same brain regions are known targets of GLP-1 medications. Building on this foundation, our central hypothesis is that differences in brain activity patterns help explain why some people respond better to GLP-1 therapy than others. In this study, we will test whether these EEG-defined brain subtypes show different brain and appetite responses after receiving GLP-1 compared with placebo. This work aims to move obesity treatment toward a more personalised, brain informed approach.