Kia ora koutou.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Lisa Stamp (Medicine, UOC) who has been awarded the University of Otago’s latest Rowheath Trust Award and Carl Smith Medal.

Associate Professor Stamp receives the Award and Medal in recognition of her outstanding research performance as an early-career staff member at the University. As a rheumatology researcher she has already made significant contributions to improving the treatment of arthritis and gout.

University of Otago Press Release.

Congratulations to the following staff on their professorial appointments. (All appointments are effective from 1 February 2012.)

To Professor
John Broughton, Preventive and Social Medicine, DSM & Oral Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences, Dentistry
Marie Crowe, Psychological Medicine, UOC
Andrew Day, Paediatrics, UOC
Catherine Day, Biochemistry, OSMS
Bernadette Drummond, Oral Sciences, Dentistry
Robin Gauld, Preventive and Social Medicine, DSM
Brian Hyland, Physiology, OSMS
Ian McLennan, Anatomy, OSMS
Jean-Claude Theis, Surgical Sciences, DSM

To Research Professor
Vicky Cameron, Medicine, UOC

University of Otago Press Release

Congratulations to the following staff members on their recent appointments.

Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Division of Health Sciences
Professor Helen Nicholson

Associate Dean (Academic) Division of Health Sciences
Associate Professor Pat Cragg

Associate Dean (Research Commercialisation) Division of Health Sciences
Professor Ian Tucker

Department of General Practice & Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine
Associate Professor Chrystal Jaye

Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Otago School of Medical Sciences
Professor Vernon Ward

Congratulations to Professor Michael Ardagh and Associate Professor David Lamb who received honours in the New Year's list. Professor Ardagh was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, ONZM, for services to emergency medicine. Associate Professor Lamb was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, ONZM, for services to health.

The Department would like to welcome Dr Sergio Morales, Lecturer who has come from the University of Montana in Missoula. Dr Morales originally from Puerto Rico completed his graduate work at the University of Vermont. His research focus is on microbial ecology, and he is interested in the regulation of carbon and nitrogen cycling and how these influence community assembly.

The School celebrated and recognised the achievements of its staff in 2011 with an annual awards ceremony, which was held on 2 February.

Congratulations to the following staff on their awards.

Professor Dave Grattan, Distinguished Researcher of the Year
Professor Mark Stringer, Distinguished Academic Teacher
Dr Julie Weaver, Distinguished Teaching Fellow/PPF
Joanne Povey, Research Support Staff Award
Nairn Smith, Sustained Research Support Staff Award
Chris Rodgers, Distinguished Research Support Staff Award
Professor Warren Tate, Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision
Professor Brian Hyland, Best Paper Award

Further information about the awards ceremony.

Staffing Changes
The School is sad to farewell Dr Clare Strachan, who has been with the School of Pharmacy for 3 years.
We have been very proud of all Clare’s achievements with us, one of the most notable being the University of Otago Early Career Award for Distinction in Research in 2011.

In January we welcomed Dr Greg Walker to the School as a lecturer, and we look forward to Dr Prasad Nishtala joining us as a lecturer in March.

White Coat Ceremony
On Saturday 25 February, the Staff in the School of Pharmacy and our associates from professional organisations of Pharmacy celebrated the entry of the new second year students into the professional years of their degree.
The event is called a White Coat Ceremony and the purpose of the ceremony is to provide a formal transition from being a student in the health science first year to entering the first professional year of the pharmacy programme. This is the first time the School has held such a ceremony.

Prescribing Update
A joint 1 year certificate programme between the Universities of Otago and Auckland for pharmacist prescribing has recently started. The programme started with a workshop mid-February.

Physiology staff and students recognised at recent OSMS Awards

The Otago School of Medical Sciences (OSMS) Awards 2011 ceremony was held on 2nd February, and two Department of Physiology staff members featured as winners of major awards.

Professor Brian Hyland was awarded along with his co-authors the prize for the best OSMS paper published in 2011. This paper, Power fluctuations in beta and gamma frequencies in rat globus pallidus: association with specific phases of slow oscillations and differential modulation by dopamine D1 and D2 receptors, by C. Dejean, G. Arbuthnott, JR Wickens, C. Le Moine, T. Boraud and B.I. Hyland, was published in the Journal of Neuroscience 31, 6098-107.

Mr Nairn Smith was awarded the Sustained Research Support Award in recognition of his huge contribution to the success of the Department of Physiology over a period of 46 years. Nairn joined the Department in 1965 and has been an important part of facilitating the research and teaching outputs of initially 13 staff and now of nearly 100 staff and over 40 postgraduate students.

In addition to the major prizes, the OSMS also awarded certificates to staff and students who had received national or international awards for their achievements, and many Physiology staff and students were awarded certificates.

Inaugural Sir John Eccles Lecture given by Professor Robert Steiner

Prof. Robert Steiner of the University of Washington, Seattle gave the inaugural Department of Physiology Sir John Eccles Lecture to a packed audience on 30 January 2012. Prof. Steiner is a world expert in the field of reproductive neurobiology and gave a fascinating insight into the discovery and role of the neuropeptide kisspeptin in the control of reproduction. Prof. Steiner spent three days in the Department of Physiology holding further seminars and numerous valuable discussions with staff, post-doctoral scientists and students.

The Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Te Tari Mātauranga Rata Whānau me te Hauora Taiwhenua
and Injury Prevention Research Unit, Te Huka Rakahau Ārai Whara are hosting an art exhibition curated by Peter Stupples, of recent works by staff and graduates of the School of Art, Otago Polytecnhic.

The Exhibition can be viewed in the 1st Floor Foyer of the Department at 55 Hanover Street. The Exhibition is on until 28 September 2012.

Thank you to all staff for your hard work in preparing your evidence portfolios (EPs).

Staff should be aware that even if they have now submitted their portfolio to their HoD, their EPs will be released to them once the Divisional panels have met, at which time they can make additional changes and incorporate the feedback they get from the panels.

Both Michele Coleman and Kerry Galvin are available to assist any staff with their portfolio up to May 19, the final submission date.

Michele.coleman@otago.ac.nz, ph 479 3076

Kerry.galvin@otago.ac.nz, ph 479 9773.

The Division will be offering Postdoctoral Fellowships to support outstanding Health Sciences graduates who have recently completed a degree at doctoral level.

Application forms for these fellowships will be circulated and will appear on the health sciences website from mid-March.

For further information visit the website.

The New Zealand International Science Festival will be held in Dunedin from 30 June to 8 July this year, and once again the University will be hosting its own Expo as part of the Festival. The theme for this year's festival is "What makes us tick?" and the University's Expo's complementary theme is "Let's tock!" and will be held on 1st and 2nd July.

If you are interested in being a part of the Expo or would like more information please contact Donnella either by email or phone.
email: donnella.aitken-ferguson@otago.ac.nz
phone: 479 7264.

Further information about the International Science Festival.

The 2012 conference of Australian & New Zealand Association of Health Professional Educators will held in Rotorua in June with the theme Professionalism under Pressure. The keynote speakers at the conference include Professor Richard Cruess and Dr Sylvia Cruess of McGill University, leading researchers on medical professionalism who will be at Otago as William Evans Visiting Fellows immediately before the conference. This is the first time in seven years the ANZAHPE conference has been held in New Zealand, and offers an excellent opportunity for clinicians with an interest in the specific challenges of educating in all of the health professions to network and share research with each other. The date for submitting abstracts has passed, but for further information about ANZAHPHE and the conference see http://www.anzahpe2012.co.nz/ or contact Dr Peter Gallagher (UOW), Professor Tim Wilkinson (UOC), or Joy Rudland (Dunedin).