July 02, 2015
Maori research leading the way
The latest member of the Health Research Council board says she want to keep up the momentum for Maori-driven research.
Associate Professor Suzanne Pitama from the University of Otago, Christchurch succeeds Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith as chair of its Maori health committee.
The registered psychologist says Professor Smith and Dr Matire Harwood, who is still on the committee, have done a great job advocating not just for Maori research but to make sure mainstream research takes Maori into account.
She says the council is demonstrating at an international level how indigenous research can be done, starting with building up a Maori health workforce.
"Most of the projects we see funded through the HRC and especially some of the bigger project grants are all senior Maori academics and indigenous-led which I think is really exciting so a lot more of the Maori health research agendas are coming from the communities as opposed to from any ivory tower and are really contributing to Maori health gain and what we want to see is a continuation of that continuum, both building our workforce but also making sure that our community benefits from where the money is going," Associate Professor Pitama says.
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