HealtheX 2023 Conference Booklet
HealtheX 2023 Award Winners
On behalf of the HealtheX 2023, we would like to thank the presenters, judges, and attendees both staff and student alike, for contributing to the 17th anniversary of the HealtheX Conference.
Additionally, we would like to thank the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS), Auckland Medical Research Foundation, the Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust, the Liggins Institute, Abacus dx, the FMHS Postgraduate Student Association, as well as our newfound supporting partners Pacific Clinical Research Network, and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute for their partnership and support.
During our Prizegiving Ceremony, we awarded over $17,000 worth of prizes – congratulations to the following winners!
Doctoral Oral Presentation Awards
Auckland Medical Research Foundation (AMRF) Outstanding Emerging Researcher & Best Doctoral Oral Presentation Award
$1,000 and a $3,000 AMRF Travel Grant
Jess Kelly – Novel Generation of Three-Dimensional Brain Spheroids Using Direct Cell Reprogramming.
Department of Pharmacology
Supervisor: Professor Bronwen Connor
AMRF Doctoral Oral Presentation Runner Up Award
$700 and a $2,000 AMRF Travel Grant
Sarah Primhak – Treating Impetigo with Antiseptics, Replacing Antibiotics (TIARA): a randomised controlled trial comparing topical impetigo treatments
Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health
Supervisor: Dr Emma Best
FMHS Second Runner Up Doctoral Oral Presentation Award
$500
Madeline Shelling – Rangatiratanga o te Kai – Reconceptualising Food Security in Aotearoa
Te Kupenga Hauora Māori
Supervisor: Dr Anneka Anderson
Non-Doctoral Oral Presentation Awards
Pacific Clinical Research Network (PCRN) Best Non-Doctoral Oral Presentation Award
$1,000
Sophia Bebelman – Redefining the role of the arylformamidase enzyme in immunosuppressive tryptophan catabolism of cancer
Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre
Supervisor: Dr Petr Tomek
PCRN Non-Doctoral Oral Presentation First Runner Up Award
$700
Caitlin Macrae – Inhibiting insulin signaling for weight loss in obese female mice
Department of Nutrition
Supervisor: Associate Professor Troy Merry
FMHS Non-Doctoral Oral Presentation Second Runner Up Award
$500
Mariam Karhiy – A Randomized Trial: Can a Virtual Human Deliver Mindfulness to Reduce Stress?
Department of Psychological Medicine
Supervisor: Professor Elizabeth Broadbent
Poster Presentation Awards
Auckland Medical Research Foundation Best Poster Presentation Award
$1,000 and a $2,000 AMRF Travel Grant
Ederlyn Perolina – A cell-based platform for studying the effects of ultrasound on neurons following stretch injury
School of Pharmacy
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Sachin Thakur
FMHS Poster Presentation First Runner Up Award
$700
Gbohunmi Idowu – Dopaminergic retinal neurons in a Dopamine Transporter Knockout (DAT-KO) model
School of Optometry and Vision science
Supervisors: Associate Professor Monica L. Acosta and Dr Peter Freestone
FMHS Poster Presentation Second Runner Up Award
$500
Malak Alshakhouri – Investigating the Neurosteroid Withdrawal Hypothesis of Pericatamenial Epilepsy using Visual Long Term Potentiation
School of Pharmacy
Primary Supervisor: Dr Rachael Sumner
3-Minute Elevator Pitch Presentation Awards
Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust Best Elevator Pitch Presentation Award
$1,000
Brooke Hawker – Utilizing 3D hydrogels to promote survival and maturation of directly reprogrammed human-induced oligodendrocyte precursor cells
Department of Pharmacology
Primary Supervisor: Dr Amy McCaughey-Chapman
FMHS-Post Doctoral Society First Runner Up Elevator Pitch Presentation Award
$700
Jennifer Park – The effectiveness of an internet-delivered intervention for gaming disorder
School of Population Health
Primary Supervisor: Dr Laura Wilkinson-Meyers
FMHS-Postgraduate Student Association Second Runner Up Elevator Pitch Presentation Award
$500
Nishantika Mitra – Optimising a protocol for the isolation and characterization of plasma extracellular vesicles
Liggins Institute
Primary Supervisor: Professor Richard Mithen
Additional Prizes
FMHS Māori and Pacific Health Research Prize
$500
Madeline Shelling – Rangatiratanga o te Kai – Reconceptualising Food Security in Aotearoa
Te Kupenga Hauora Māori
Supervisor: Dr Anneka Anderson
PCRN Excellent Abstract Award
$200
Lieke Burgers – Transplantation of directly reprogrammed striatal precursor cells into a rat model of Huntington’s disease
Department of Pharmacology
Primary Supervisor: Professor Bronwen Connor
PCRN Excellent Abstract Award
$200
Alice McDouall – Erythropoietin improved recovery of brain activity after mild hypoxia-ischemia in the term-equivalent fetal sheep
Department of Physiology
Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Joanne Davidson
PCRN Excellent Abstract Award
$200
Brooke Hawker – Utilizing 3D hydrogels to promote survival and maturation of directly reprogrammed human-induced oligodendrocyte precursor cells
Department of Pharmacology
Primary Supervisor: Dr Amy McCaughey-Chapman
PCRN Excellent Abstract Award
$200
Benjamin Prince – Examining structural plasticity within human heart neurons and its role in Atrial Fibrillation
Department of Physiology
Primary Supervisor: Professor Johanna Montgomery
PCRN Excellent Abstract Award
$200
Melenaite Tohi – Adolescent understanding of the developmental origins of
health and disease concepts: a Pacific perspective
Liggins Institute
Primary Supervisor: Professor Mark Vickers