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News and media

All the latest news and media releases from the Health Research Council.
  • E-cigarettes on a par with nicotine patches

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    News
    The first clinical trial to compare e-cigarettes with nicotine patches has found that both methods show comparable success in helping smokers to quit.
  • Effects of alcohol misuse on 20-somethings

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    News

    University of Otago, Christchurch researchers have for the first time quantified exactly what damage alcohol abuse is inflicting on 20-somethings, and in turn society.

  • Special medal awarded to cot death expert

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    News
    Congratulations to Professor Ed Mitchell who has received the Howard Williams Medal from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians for his contributions to paediatrics and child health.
  • Genetic link found for rare form of epilepsy

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    News
    HRC-funded researcher Dr Lynette Sadleir from the University of Otago, Wellington, is part of an international team that have discovered a link between mutations to a single gene and a rare seizure and speech disorder.
  • Heart test inventor wins innovation grant

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    News
    HRC-funded researcher Associate Professor Chris Pemberton has won a University of Otago Innovation Proof of Concept grant to further develop his world-first test for predicting those at imminent risk of a heart attack.
  • Exploring an iwi view of wellbeing

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    News
    Emerging Māori health researcher Jodi Porter has developed an iwi-specific framework to help gauge the wellbeing of one of her iwi, Ngai Tai in Tōrere.
  • Utakura River project benefits health of locals

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    Media Release
    As part of an HRC-funded project, local environmental group Te Roopu Taiao o Utakura has gathered important baseline data about the relationship between the health of local Māori and the water quality of Lake Ōmāpere and its only outlet the Utakura River.
  • Higher oxygen levels to aid premature babies' survival

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    News

    The first results from the HRC funded BOOST-NZ study (Benefits of Oxygen Saturation Targeting) are in and they suggest that switching from lower to higher oxygen levels could help more extremely pr