HRC grants $1m plus to health researchers with innovative ideas

Seven research projects offering innovative ideas to achieve better outcomes for a range of health issues including breast cancer, HIV transmission and autoimmune disease have been awarded a total of just over $1m in the Health Research Council's Explorer grant round for 2026.

The research projects are:

Dr Carl Webber, FMHS
Transforming HIV prevention via an adaptable P-PrEP framework
24 months, $150,000

Aotearoa New Zealand is not on track to meet the government’s goal of eliminating HIV transmission by 2030. HIV pre exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) plays a critical role in HIV prevention. However, an estimated 8,600 men who have sex with men, who could benefit from PrEP, are not using it. Māori men are especially affected by this gap. This research proposes a paradigm shift by redefining community pharmacists as autonomous health providers for end-to-end pharmacist-initiated PrEP. This model de-medicalises care and helps remove clinical barriers that often deter underserved populations. This framework will support the national rollout of pharmacist-initiated PrEP, promising significant health cost savings. Furthermore, the tested framework will demonstrate a proof of concept for expanding into commercial services and filling a market gap.

Dr Annette Lasham, Dr Nicholas Knowlton, FMHS
Does the system “fit” women with lobular breast cancer? A national study
24 months, $150,000

Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is common, but it can be difficult to see on standard mammography and may recur later than other breast cancers. Yet our screening and follow-up systems largely evaluate “breast cancer” as one disease, using the same performance measures for everyone. This project treats ILC as a stress test of the health system. Using linked national screening and breast cancer data, the aim is to build a new way to measure whether screening and follow-up truly work for ILC. The potential transformative outcome is a new measurement framework, not just new statistics. It could change how screening performance is judged, how risks are understood over time, and where system changes could reduce late diagnosis as well as improve long-term care for women with ILC.

Dr David Musson, FMHS
Mast cells as drivers and therapeutic targets of endometriosis
24 months, $150,000

Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting many people in Aotearoa New Zealand, and often leads to years of pain, fatigue, and difficulty with daily life. As a result, the healthcare burden is significant. The main effective treatment currently available is surgery, but this only works short-term and the condition often reoccurs. Specialist surgical care is limited, and many people, especially Māori, face long delays and barriers to receiving it.
This project explores a completely new idea that certain immune cells called mast cells may be driving the inflammation and fibrosis that make endometriosis worse. The project will study how these cells behave in the diseased tissue and test medicines that already exist to see if they can reduce disease progression. If successful, this research could lead to new, non‑surgical treatment options, faster and more accessible care, and major improvements in quality of life for people with endometriosis.

Professor llva Rupenthal, FMHS
Solving chronic and recurrent inflammation: Beyond corticosteroid therapy
24 months, $150,000

For most autoimmune diseases, 20-50 percent of patients relapse within 1-5 years, severely increasing healthcare costs and reducing the quality of life of those affected. For non-infectious uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease associated with underlying autoimmune conditions, about 40 percent of patients experience a relapse within 10 years, significantly increasing the likelihood of vision loss. The team's preclinical model has revealed that while corticosteroid treatment curbs acute inflammation, a self-perpetuating chronic inflammation pathway, likely responsible for disease relapse upon further triggers, remains active. The team will explore how combination therapy with a blocker of this pathway could prevent chronic inflammation and disease relapse, significantly reducing the need for ongoing specialist visits.

Dr Sjan-Mari Van Niekerk, Dr Claire Gooder, Science, FMHS
Community-vetted, inclusive care: A platform for Rainbow and Takatāpui
24 months, $150,000

Rainbow and Takatāpui elders in Auckland face significant barriers when seeking healthcare. Many avoid or delay care due to past experiences of discrimination, providers lacking knowledge of their health needs and dismissing their identities, or uncertainty about which services are safe and welcoming. This research works directly with Rainbow elders to co-create New Zealand's first community-vetted online directory of inclusive primary healthcare services. Over two years, we will partner with Rainbow and Takatāpui elders to develop a co-created framework for assessing culturally safe healthcare. The research will identify what helps or hinders providers in delivering inclusive care, evaluate Auckland services against community defined standards, and create a platform where Rainbow elders can find trustworthy, vetted providers with resources for practice improvement. This Auckland-focused project creates a scalable model that shifts responsibility from individuals navigating unsafe systems, to making the health system accountable for providing culturally safe, accessible care for all New Zealanders as they age.

Dr Daniel Verdon, Science
Implantable immune memory: A new architecture for precision cancer immunotherapy
24 months, $150,000

Many modern cancer treatments try to help the immune system attack cancer, but they only work if the body already has the right immune cells. Many patients do not, so expensive treatments often fail. This project will test a new way of preparing the immune system in advance. The team will analyse a patient’s tumour to find what makes it different from healthy tissue, then grow new immune cells from a blood sample that can recognise those cancer targets.
These cells are designed to behave like healthy immune memory, an approach called implantable immune memory, so they can last and respond over time. By giving patients these cancer-fighting memory cells first, existing checkpoint immunotherapies and cancer vaccines have something reliable to act on. This could make treatment more predictable and effective. The project will test whether this tumour-to immune-memory approach can work across patients and support a new generation of personalised cancer therapy.

Dr Luyao Xia, Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Physics-constrained AI for marker-less tumour localisation in breast surgery
24 months, $150,000

Breast surgery aims to remove the tumour while preserving as much healthy breast tissue as possible. A major challenge is that the tumour can shift between diagnostic imaging and the operating room because the breast is soft and changes shape with posture and surgical handling. This uncertainty can contribute to additional surgery, prolonged treatment, distress for patients and whānau, and avoidable cost for the health system. We will develop a marker-less, physics-constrained AI tool that learns how the breast deforms across posture change and during surgery, and provides a 3D estimate of tumour location with an uncertainty range.
Unlike data-driven methods, the approach will embed biomechanics so predictions remain realistic and reliable when tissue shape changes. The method will be tested using existing imaging and surgical data, and validate performance in controlled breast phantoms to define accuracy, robustness and safe limits. The outputs will support future clinical evaluation and deployment.