Lance O'Sullivan's cutting-edge health research in Far North

Professor Peter Shepherd (left) and Dr Lance O'Sullivan are leading a unique research partnership coming to Kaitaia. Photo / Auckland University

Kaitaia might once have been a very long way from cutting-edge health research, but no longer.

The town will provide the location for a unique health research partnership, Waharoa ki te Toi (The Gateway), announced on Friday, between the Moko Foundation, led by Dr Lance O'Sullivan, and the Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, one of New Zealand's national centres of research excellence.

The Moko Foundation will provide premises and access to a range of innovative approaches to health monitoring and community links, while the Maurice Wilkins Centre will offer access to top clinical and health researchers from across the country.

The overall goal for Waharoa ki te Toi will be to address some of the country's most pressing health issues, such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes and rheumatic fever.

Dr O'Sullivan, chairman of the Moko Foundation, said the partnership would provide a different way to conduct health research.

"It fits well with the Moko Foundation's vision of connecting people with opportunities for a better Aotearoa New Zealand, by building meaningful and lasting partnerships through whakawhanaungatanga-based approaches," he said.

The involvement of the Maurice Wilkins Centre, a centre of research excellence (CoRE) hosted by the University of Auckland, meant the partnership would benefit from access to many of New Zealand's best scientists and clinical researchers.

Professor Peter Shepherd, deputy director of the Maurice Wilkins Centre, who will co-lead the research unit with Dr O'Sullivan, said the partnership would allow the targeting of research on some of the greatest health issues.

"Usually researchers might go to rural areas to get samples from patients, and return to the city to analyse the information. Waharoa ki te Toi aims to deliver a permanent research presence in Kaitaia that will develop research questions relevant to the needs of those in the local community," he said.

Since their establishment in 2002, CoREs such as the Maurice Wilkins Centre had built a strong legacy in terms of their research activities and collaborations. As truly national organisations, they brought together scientists from universities, Crown Research Institutes and other entities, combining their efforts to produce research outcomes of enormous value to New Zealand's society and economy.

"CoREs have allowed us to do things we couldn't have done as individual researchers. As a CoRE we're greater than the sum of the parts, and I see that as the No 1 value to New Zealand," said Professor Shepherd, who grew up in Kaitaia, and began his education at Te Hapua.

In addition to building synergies and overcoming barriers such as geographical location, he also saw the potential to "change paradigms" in terms of how research was organised in New Zealand.

"It's about getting relevant groups together and finding out each other's capabilities, how we can work better with each other, what problems we can solve together, and then getting out there and doing it," he said.