Centres for Research Excellence

Professor Mark Richards

The Christchurch Heart Institute is excited to be part of a new cardiovascular Centre for Research Excellence (CoRE), aiming to close a seven-year gap in life expectancy for Māori and Pacific people, compared with other New Zealanders.

Healthy Hearts for Aotearoa New Zealand will bring together researchers, healthcare practitioners and community groups, hosted by the University of Auckland.

Lead researcher at the CHI, Professor Mark Richards, led the CHI's input into the CoRE and is now the Principal Investigator for the Biomarkers and Genetics section.

“We are very pleased to be a part of this NZ first cardiovascular CoRE. Achieving this involved a rigorous selection process, culminating in the bringing together of researchers, healthcare practitioners and community groups. We will work together, towards cardiovascular healthcare equity in New Zealand,” he said.

Professor Vicky Cameron

Meanwhile, Professor Vicky Cameron who heads up the CHI's 'Omics laboratory takes on a Principal Investigator role on another new CoRE success, also hosted by University of Auckland, known as the Maurice Wilkins Centre CoRE. This team, will target major diseases affecting New Zealanders, particularly diabetes and cardiovascular disease, cancer and infectious disease, by delivering world-class research that enables the discovery of new therapies, diagnostics and vaccines.

The CoREs are comprised of experts from the University of Otago, University of Canterbury, Auckland University of Technology, University of Waikato, and Massey University with the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research (New Zealand's world-leading independent biomedical research institute).

The CoREs are Government funded for the next eight years, when a renewal selection process will take place.