Our name
‘Kākano’ is the name chosen to represent Māori academic staff at He Rau Kawakawa (School of Pharmacy and Pharamacology). The inspiration for the name comes from the whakatauki (proverb):
E kore au e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea
I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown in the heavens
This whakatauki embodies enduring connections with our homelands and ancestors as well as self-growth and support of tauira (students). Kākano, meaning ‘seed’, conveys growth and development and is a connection to both rokoā/ rongoā rākau (plant based traditional medicine), and to the name of the School. Ruia, to plant or sow, represents the establishment of an educational foundation through which tauira can flourish. As a roopū (group), we acknowledge our collective capability to develop, grow, aspire to be good ancestors and hold close the values of our tīpuna (ancestors).
By interweaving the Hauora Māori (Māori health) curriculum through the Bachelor of Pharmacy and Professional postgraduate programmes, we are building a capable pharmacist workforce by facilitating culturally safe student learning experiences.
Our mission
Our mission is for both undergraduate and postgraduate students to have the foundational skills and knowledge to be able to action Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) in a pharmacist context.
Our people
From left: Ellery Fruean, Amber Young, Lisa Kremer, Jaime Tutbury.
Ellery Fruean
Lecturer in Hauora Māori
Lisa Kremer
Associate Dean Māori, Senior Lecturer
Jaime Tutbury
Hauora Māori Curriculum Lead, Lecturer in Hauora Māori
Amber Young
Senior Lecturer
Student learning
We provide student learning experiences in lectures, workshops, skills labs, and culturally immersive experiences at marae. We aspire to make every point of contact with students count, by creating engaging learning opportunities. Our goal is for students to graduate feeling empowered to action Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to have the skills and knowledge to contribute to achieving health equity for Māori.
Tauira highlights from the cultural immersion learning experience at Ōtākou Marae:
“Getting out of campus and actually applying and learning of Māori values in person, getting to experience the pōwhiri and engage with our future colleagues more.”
Research
We are committed to providing high-quality research with the potential to have positive impacts for iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whānau (family).
We provide supervision for PhD, masters', and honours' students, as well as Summer Studentships over a wide range of topics, including Hauora Māori and health equity research.
For enquiries on conducting research with us, please contact:
Tauira Māori research
2026
Pamela (Pam) Conway
Final-year pharmacy honors student
Project title: Investigating midwife perspectives on the intradermal patch delivery of vaccines
Supervisors: Dr Amber Young, Dr Lisa Kremer, Dr Pauline Dawson, and Professor Peter McIntyre
Trelise Edwards
Final-year pharmacy Honours student
Project title: Antenatal vaccination: enablers and impacts on decision making
Supervisors: Dr Amber Young, Professor Alesha Smith and Dr Anna Howe
Maria Reti
Final-year pharmacy honours student
Project title: Pharmacist Precepting for Cultural Safety of students at He Rau Kawakawa (School of Pharmacy)
Supervisors: Dr Lisa Kremer, Jaim Tutbury
2025
Brooke Manion
Research Intern
Project title: Placement Poverty for Māori
Supervisor: Dr Lisa Kremer
2024
Tayla Cadigan
Master's student
Project title: Māori experiences of healthcare services centred in rural communities in Aotearoa New Zealand
Supervisors: Dr Lisa Kremer, Associate Professor Alesha Smith, Dr Joanna Hikaka
Published research from the project:
“Rural Indigenous Experiences of Healthcare Services: A Scoping Review,” Australian Journal of Rural Health34, no. 3 (2026): e70202, https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.70202
Pamela (Pam) Conway
Third-year pharmacy Summer Studentship
Project title: How can game-based learning be used to promote pharmacy as a career to Māori high school students?
Supervisors: Dr Lisa Kremer, Dr Amber Young, and Dr Joanna Hikaka
Erana Ikimau
Final-year pharmacy honours student
Project title: Whānau Māori perspectives of needle-free vaccines
Supervisors: Dr Amber Young, Dr Lisa Kremer, and Professor Sarah Hook
Chloe Light
Third-year pharmacy Summer Studentship
Project title: Exploring medicine exposure in whānau Māori reported to the Aotearoa New Zealand National Poisons Centre.
Supervisors: Dr Amber Young, Associate Professor Liza Edmonds, Dr Eeva-Katri Kumpula.
Published research from the project:
Exploring medicine exposure in whānau Māori reported to the Aotearoa New Zealand National Poisons Centre
Light, Chloe et al.
First Nations Health and Wellbeing - The Lowitja Journal, Volume 3, 100066
2023
Tylah Maniapoto
Final-year pharmacy Honours student
Project title: Pharmacist provision of over-the-counter low-dose topical oestrogen for the treatment of genitourinary symptoms of menopause.
Supervisors: Dr Amber Young and Associate Professor Alesha Smith
Published research from the project:
Providing over-the-counter vaginal oestrogen in New Zealand: a cross-sectional study of pharmacists’ views
Maniapoto, T; Young, A; Smith, A (2026)
Journal of Primary Health Care 18, 45–52.
Shelby Rupa-Hayward
Third-year pharmacy Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Summer Studentship
Project title: Staying, Going Gone: A Survey of Māori (Indigenous) Pharmacist Career Plans in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Supervisors: Dr Lisa Kremer, Dr Amber Young, Mariana Hudson.
Published research from the project:
Rupa-Hayward, S., Kremer, L. J., Hudson, M., & Young, A. (2026). Staying, Going, Gone: A Survey of Māori (Indigenous) Pharmacists’ Career Plans in Aotearoa New Zealand. MAI Journal, 15(1), 73–81. https://doi.org/10.20507/MAIJournal.2026.15.1.8
2022
Kendall Coker
Third-year pharmacy Health Research Council Summer Studentship
Supervisors: Dr Lisa Kremer, Associate Professor Liza Edmonds, and Professor Bev Lawton.
Published research from the project:
Lived Reality of Retinopathy of Prematurity Eye Examinations: A Study Protocol for the Exploratory Qualitative Study with Whānau Māori
Coker, K; Kremer, L J; Edmonds, L; and Lawton, B
International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22 (2023)
Tauira Māori support
Manaakitaka / manaakitanga (kindness, generosity) and whanaukataka / whanaungatanga (relationship, connection) are values that guide our contribution to walking alongside tauira Māori achieve their academic goals and aspirations. We provide high-quality academic support for Te Puna Kaitaka (Māori Pharmacy Students Association).
We ensure Te Puna Kaitaka members are connected with Ngāi Kaitiaki o Te Puna Rongoā (Māori Pharmacists Association) so they feel the warm korowai (cloak) of support for them as future Māori pharmacists.
From left: Lisa Kremer, Amber Young, Jaime Tutbury, Ellery Fruean.