New Zealand-born Samoan researcher Dr Allamanda Faatoese from the University of Otago, Christchurch, has received one of New Zealand’s top Pacific health research awards to explore if new biological markers can identify Māori and Pacific peoples at risk of heart disease.
Dr Faatoese is one of 10 Pacific health researchers to receive a share of $1.09 million in funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) as part of its 2014 Career Development Awards programme.
Rates of heart disease remain consistently higher for Māori and Pacific peoples than New Zealand Europeans. However, Dr Faatoese recently discovered that new lipid biomarkers, which have been shown to be associated with a high risk of heart disease across various ethnic groups, were actually significantly lower in a Māori study group than in the general New Zealand population. Preliminary evidence suggests this may also be true for Pacific peoples.
“Emerging lipid biomarkers, such as lipoprotein(a) have been proposed as markers to identify individuals at high risk of heart disease, but it’s important to establish whether this would be misleading in individuals of Polynesian descent,” says Dr Faatoese.
Victoria Lesatele from Massey University in Auckland has received a HRC Pacific Health Research PhD Scholarship to examine how Samoan peoples with heart disease experience the clinical care pathway – from the onset of symptoms through to primary, secondary and community care.
As part of her research Mrs Lesatele will explore Samoan people’s understanding of their heart conditions and their responses to treatment. She will also identify any barriers that prevent them from using health care services.
Two major awards have also gone to Dr Josephine Herman and Dr Iris Wainiqolo from The University of Auckland who are both examining road traffic injuries and injury-related disabilities in Pacific communities.
Dr Herman, who is of Cook Islands Māori descent, will use her postdoctoral fellowship to determine the burden and severity of road traffic injuries among Pacific peoples in the Cook Islands and New Zealand. She will establish an injury surveillance system and explore the knowledge and attitudes of Pacific road users to road safety.
Collaborating with research partners in New Zealand and Fiji, Dr Wainiqolo will examine long-term disability among road crash survivors in Fiji. She will also develop a set of indicators that can be used to monitor and evaluate road traffic injury prevention policies.
The HRC’s Chief Executive, Dr Robin Olds, says there’s a real need for more Pacific voices in the health research sector.
“We’re delighted to offer these funding opportunities, which are essential to support the development of a critical mass of Pacific health research capacity.”
See below for a list of all the 2014 HRC Career Development Award recipients (Pacific health research). You can also check out research repository .
Pacific Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowships
Dr Allamanda Faatoese, University of Otago, Christchurch
Lipoprotein biomarkers and cardiovascular risk in Māori and Pacific communities
30 months, $243,003
Dr Josephine Herman, The University of Auckland
Injury and disability among Pacific people in the Cook Islands and New Zealand
3 years, $343,514
Clinical Research Training Fellowship
Dr Iris Wainiqolo, The University of Auckland
Road injuries in the Pacific: disability, costs and health system indicators
3 years, $250,000
Pacific Health Research PhD Scholarships
Ms Victoria Lesatele, Massey University, Auckland
Samoan people’s experiences of CVD pathways of care
3 years, $108,050
Ms Eliza Puna, The University of Auckland
Cook Islands youth: Positive mental health wellbeing and suicide prevention
3 years, $106,589
Pacific Health Research Masters Scholarships
Mrs Synthia Dash, The University of Auckland
Towards a Pacific Island Definition of Deliberate Self-Harm
10 months, $10,000
Ms Hulita Tauveli, The University of Auckland
Urban poverty and homelessness among Pasifika living in South Auckland
6 months, $4,000
Pacific Health Research Summer Studentships
Manatu Fia, University of Otago, Dunedin
The effects of parent-child interactions and early mental state language on children
4 months, $5,000
Wesley Lagolago, AUT University
Understanding traumatic brain injury in the Pasifika population of New Zealand
4 months, $5,000
Tainafi Lefono, AUT University
Information needs and issues of importance for Pasifika peoples following spinal injury
4 months, $5,000
Puipui Su’a, University of Otago, Dunedin
Breaking the walls: What is preventing Pacific Peoples from accessing health care
4 months, $5,000