From new weight-loss drugs to cataract prevention: $16m for health researchers

Researchers at the University of Auckland have been awarded $16m for a broad range of health and medical research projects in the 2026 Health Research Council funding round.

These range from a promising novel weight-loss medication without the side effects of existing drugs, a trial to improve outcomes for pre-term babies and how music therapy might address cognitive impairment in older New Zealanders.

The interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor Frank Bloomfield said: “The research funded demonstrates the highly innovative approach taken by our researchers, with each project having a clear goal for the potential impact on the health and lives of New Zealanders.

"The funding will support projects ranging from new drug and medical device discovery, through preventative approaches to common diseases across the lifespan, to understanding how to deliver more equitable access and outcomes in the health system.

"Congratulations to each of the researchers and thanks to the Health Research Council for their work amidst a changing funding environment.” 

Researchers funded in the 2026 Health Research Council funding round are:

Professor Katie Groom, Liggins Institute
PROMOAT - the First PLATIPUS Pregnancy Domain, 48 months, $1,440,000

Preterm birth is the leading cause of death in tamariki under five, and survivors often face lifelong health challenges. Aotearoa New Zealand researchers, in collaboration with Australian partners, are leading the development of the first-ever perinatal adaptive trial platform - PLATIPUS (Platform for Adaptive Trials in Perinatal Units). PLATIPUS and its first pregnancy trial, PROMOAT, will identify the best antibiotic treatment for māmā/people with preterm rupture of membranes, to improve lifelong outcomes for pēpi, (babies). Adaptive platform trials offer a transformative solution. This innovative design allows multiple research questions to be tested within a single, ongoing structure, improving efficiency, reducing costs, and accelerating translation into practice.

Associate Professor Julie Lim, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Targeted antioxidant delivery strategies to prevent lens cataract,36 months, $1,199,999

With an aging population, cataracts are becoming increasingly common. Oxidative damage is well established as a key contributor to cataract formation, yet antioxidant-based therapies have so far proven ineffective in slowing the development of cataracts, due to inadequate delivery to the lens. This project harnesses the lens microcirculation system to enhance water transport and improve antioxidant delivery to the lens. The potential research impact is to reduce reliance on surgery, lower healthcare costs, and lift health outcomes for our aging population.

Dr Sarah-Jane Guild, Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Transforming hydrocephalus care with home brain pressure monitoring
36 months, $1,199,637

Hydrocephalus involves fluid buildup around the brain, requiring a surgically implanted tube for drainage. Patients and caregivers worry about tube blockages, with nonspecific symptoms like irritability, headaches, and vomiting. This research aims to improve hydrocephalus management by enabling home brain pressure monitoring. Building on an initial safety study, a pressure sensor will be placed in the brain during tube placement surgery. Patients will monitor their brain pressure at home for at least one year. A retrospective analysis of clinical events, brain pressure values, and symptoms will show the usefulness of at-home measurements and calculate healthcare cost savings from potentially avoidable scans and hospital stays. Clinical adoption of home brain pressure monitoring has the potential to transform hydrocephalus care.

Associate Professor Mark Bolland, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Very long-term fracture prevention with intermittent zoledronate: Ten-year extension, 48 months, $1,199,554

Fractures are a major health burden for older people. The research team recently completed a 10-year randomised controlled trial which showed that zoledronate, given as a five-or ten-yearly infusion, reduced spinal fractures in early postmenopausal women by 40-44 percent and all fractures by 23-30 percent over ten years.

The aim is to see whether the benefits of five-or ten-yearly zoledronate are sustained to 20 years. If they do, the results will provide stronger, practice changing evidence for this new approach, which would be more convenient, less expensive, prevent fractures and improve health, and produce large cost-savings for New Zealand.

Dr Gemma Aburn, Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Pae Herenga - Informing service development of Paediatric palliative care, 36 months, $1,199,999

This study will collect the first comprehensive New Zealand data of whānau and family experiences of paediatric palliative care for both Māori and non-Māori. This data will inform development of paediatric palliative care services in Aotearoa to meet the needs of over 3,000 children living with life limiting/life threatening conditions and their families/whānau.

Improving service delivery has significant economic benefit, through reduced admissions, fewer bed nights in hospital and avoidance of distressing interventions.

The team and participants will co-create resources to empower whānau and communities caring for a child with palliative care needs. These resources will be accessible through a range of mediums and available across all levels of paediatric palliative care. Findings will contribute to health professional education, ensuring a strong whānau voice enables health professionals to reflect on practice, developing whānau centred approaches to care.

Professor Ngaire Kerse, MNZM, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Music and Movement for Mild Cognitive Impairment: the RGM trial, 30 months, $1,166,667

People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an early (prodromal) stage of dementia, are also at high risk of falls. Cognitively stimulating exercise may both prevent dementia and falls. This project will test a model of care for dementia prevention in people with MCI with a randomised controlled trial to see how the Ronnie Gardiner Method (RGM) compares to a falls prevention programme (SAYGO). RGM is a cognitively challenging music and movement activity programme where trained practitioners use rhythmical cross body movement to music for neurological rehabilitation. A Māori sub-study will redevelop RGM by Māori, for Māori to test feasibility.

Dr Claire Wang, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Understanding drug transporter gene variants in NZ prescription drug use, 36 months, $1,200,000

People respond differently to medications, and one key reason is genetic differences in drug transporters - proteins that help move drugs into and out of cells. This research focuses on the genetic variants on two transporters found only in Māori and Pacific peoples. The variants may change how common medications like metformin (for diabetes) and oxaliplatin (for cancer) work, potentially leading to treatment failure or harmful side effects.

A pre-clinical model has showed that one variant reduces metformin’s effectiveness, which could explain why some patients don’t benefit from the drug. We will now study how this and similar variants affect drug response in humans, and test 30 commonly used (PHARMAC-approved) medications in Aotearoa to see if changes in transporter function impact their safety or effectiveness. This research will support more personalised and safer prescribing for Māori and Pacific patients.

Dr Akilesh Gokul, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Community-based crosslinking treatment in keratoconus, 48 months, $1,198,805

Keratoconus (KC) causes significant visual impairment and disproportionately affects Māori and Pacific peoples. Corneal crosslinking (CXL) is a minor procedure and an effective treatment for KC. However, demand for CXL far exceeds current capacity. This research aims to evaluate a newer community-based CXL process and set up a community service delivering the new treatment, in an area with large Māori and Pacific communities and high deprivation neighbourhoods.

Professor Chris Bullen, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Breaking free from nicotine, 36 months, $1,439,854

Many people who smoke tobacco also use other nicotine products, like vapes, but want support to stop or reduce use of all nicotine products, especially the most harmful ones. But there is no evidence on the best forms of treatment and support. To identify the most effective treatments, regardless of the nicotine source, researchers will invite people who smoke cigarettes and use other forms of nicotine (vapes, heated tobacco, or pouches) to take part in a trial comparing two different treatments: cytisine or tapering nicotine.

The focus is on preventing disease by identifying cost-effective treatments, ones that support people to be both tobacco- and nicotine-free, financially independent from nicotine, improve their productivity and the quality and length of their lives.

Professor Peter Shepherd, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
A new generation of weight loss medication. 36 months, $1,198,540

Weight loss drugs targeting GLP1 receptors (Wegovy/Ozempic) are highly effective. However, the drugs suppress appetite which can reduce social interaction and enjoyment of life. They also cause muscle loss, highly undesirable, in older patients. Further, they have side effects such as nausea and digestion problems.

Our team has discovered and are commercialising a new drug that overcomes these limitations. This achieves high level and sustained weight loss without muscle loss. It achieves this by increasing metabolism so there is no reduction in food intake. Investors have committed to fund phase-1 clinical trials but need to identify the best strategy for using our drug compared with competitor drugs. This project will compare the new drug alone or in combination with all other major classes of weight loss drugs in preclinical obesity models to define the new drug’s advantages.

Dr Samantha Marsh, Professor Nikki Turner, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Shifting Focus: Risk-Framed Messaging and Visualisation for Childhood Vaccines, 36 months, $1,200,000

Health promotion focuses on reassuring families that vaccines are “safe and effective,” a framing that works when trust is high. In the current climate of misinformation and declining vaccine confidence, many parents see vaccines as risky. The stronger message is that the real danger lies in the diseases vaccines prevent. This project will develop and test a tailored communication tool that shifts the focus to disease reduction. Using the validated Vaccine Barriers and Assessment Tool, we will identify whether a parent is hesitant or accepting and provide short, targeted messages and videos.

Messages will use loss framing, emphasising what children stand to lose if unvaccinated. The tool will be co-created with Māori and Pacific communities and tested in a large trial. The aim is to rebuild vaccine confidence and improve uptake to reduce vaccine-preventable illness and the downstream costs of treatment and outbreaks.

Pacific Health category

Dr Karaponi Okesene-Gafa, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Co-designing with Pasifika families to improve diabetes in pregnancy management, 36 months, $1,199,916

Pacific women experience disproportionately high rates of diabetes in pregnancy, contributing to poor outcomes including higher perinatal mortality. Hyperglycaemia is a likely cause of mortality and other consequences: large birthweight newborns, early birth and neonatal hypoglycaemia all are conditions with significant social and economic costs.

While lifestyle and medical interventions are effective, current approaches can overlook Pacific worldviews. Pacific women consistently report difficulties managing diabetes in pregnancy. This research will co-design a culturally grounded model of care with Pasifika women, their families/whānau, and health professionals to improve diabetes in pregnancy management and service delivery.

Dr Olivia Perelini, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Timely Detection & Treatment: Closing the Breast Cancer Gap for Pacific Women, 36 months, $1,199,961

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting Pacific women and are nearly twice as likely to die from the cancer compared to other women. Pacific women are often diagnosed at later stages and face greater delays in treatment. These inequities are driven by barriers such as limited access to screening, financial pressures, stigma, and a lack of culturally safe care.

This project will combine data analysis, lived experience research, and community-led co-design to create practical, culturally tailored solutions. By piloting interventions such as navigation support and community-based screening promotion, the team aims to improve early detection and treatment timeliness.