Professor Hinemoa Elder awarded the Mark Sheldon Prize

Professor Hinemoa Elder (Ngati Kuri, Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa, Ngapuhi), member of the CBR Māori Advisory Group (Rangahau te Roro me te Hinengaro), was awarded the Mark Sheldon Prize last week at the College Congress ceremony in Tāmaki.

The Mark Sheldon Prize is awarded annually and recognises outstanding contributions to indigenous mental health in Australia or New Zealand.

The Prize was established in 2000 to honour the memory of the late Dr Mark Sheldon, a psychiatrist and Fellow of the RANZCP who was devoted to the welfare of Indigenous people in remote communities of Australia.

Professor Elder is a Fellow of the RANZCP and has been a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist for over a decade. In addition to being in the CBR Advisory Group, she is the Professor of Indigenous Health Research at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, and Māori Strategic Leader for the Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) for the Ageing Brain.

In addition to her initial medical qualifications, Professor Elder has a PhD (Massey University, 2012) and is former HRC Eru Pomare Post-Doctoral Fellow (2014-18) in which she developed a novel recovery approach grounded in Te Ao Māori (Māori world view), for Māori with traumatic brain injury, their whānau (extended families) and professionals, which is now being used in community rehabilitation services.

Professor Elder is an advocate for use of Te Reo Māori and is a graduate of Te Pīnakitanga ki te Reo Kairangi, rangapū tuarima (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa).