Tiara Das in front of her winning poster.
Hotene Ngaropo-Tuia in front of his winning poster.
After a summer investigating a diverse range of research topics, 24 students presented their work at the summer studentship poster showcase and competition on the Wellington campus at the end of January.
The event was co-hosted by Associate Professor Sara Filoche, Associate Dean (Research), and Associate Professor Dianne Sika-Paotonu, Associate Dean (Pacific).
Associate Professor Filoche says the event was a great success, thanks to the huge effort put in by the students, supervisors and judges.
“The sponsors of the research projects thoroughly enjoyed being able to meet the students and learn more about the research their donations had supported.”
The two winners were:
Hotene Ngaropo-Tuiā, a fifth-year medical student, who conducted an audit of Ora Toa's response to COVID-19 in terms of preventing avoidable after-hours and emergency department presentations (supervised by Associate Professor Bridget Robson); and Tiara Das, a second-year medical student with a BSc in Psychology, who researched the metaphors men use to describe their experiences of mental distress (supervised by Dr Fiona Mathieson and Dr Sarah McKenzie from the Department of Psychological Medicine).
Highly commended went to fourth-year medical student Hugo Cordue, who researched experiences of homelessness in the LGBTIQ+ and Takatāpui communities (supervised by Dr Brodie Fraser), and fifth-year medical student Thushayini Paraneetharan, who researched upper limb dysfunction and low physiotherapy referral rates in women following breast cancer treatment in Wellington (supervised by Emma O'Loughlin).
The judges were Dr Sarah McKenzie, Dr Aaron Stevens (Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine), Dr Claire Henry (Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health) and Dr Clint Gray (Department of Paediatrics and Child Health).
Thushayini Paraneetharan in front of her highly commended poster.
Hugo Cordue in front of his highly commended poster.