The HRC extends its warmest congratulatons to Professor Shanthi Ameratunga, the 2013 recipient of the Injury Prevention Network Te Manaia Leadership Award.
The Te Manaia Leadership Award recognises the outstanding commitment and contribution individuals and organisations make to the national injury prevention sector. The award is convened by the Injury Prevention Network of Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Shanthi has made an outstanding contribution to the injury prevention community, both in New Zealand and internationally, through her research and workforce development activities,” says Injury Prevention Network General Manager Justine Ropata.
“She has achieved to the highest level in her academic career and has been passionately committed to training and stimulating the work of practitioners and future leaders in the field. It is for these reasons that she is a worthy recipient of a Te Manaia Leadership Award.”
Professor Ameratunga is a leading injury researcher who has achieved international acclaim. Her current research work focuses on road traffic injuries, child and youth injury, disability and high-quality equitable trauma care and rehabilitation outcomes. She is first named investigator on two current HRC-funded projects, one looking at the determinants of life-threatening injuries among young and middle-aged adults, and the other a randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of an innovative mobile phone intervention to reduce hazardous drinking in at-risk groups.
Professor Ameratunga is currently professor of epidemiology at The University of Auckland’s School of Population Health.
In New Zealand unintentional and intentional injury is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 1 to 34 years, and a major cause of hospitalisation.
News article courtesy of the Injury Prevention Network of Aotearoa New Zealand