Aotea Group is proud to be supporting nationwide medical research by partnering with regional medical foundations to provide sponsorship for multiple grants. Each regional foundation supports young and gifted researchers to carry out and engage in important medical research. This medical research benefits everybody in Aotearoa, by discovering new knowledge, new ways to treat illness and how to speed up processes around diagnosis.
This partnership with regional medical research foundations in the hope of being able to encourage and support those in the medical industry, who are engaging with research that invests in increasing the quality of life for those who are directly impacted by life threatening and debilitating conditions.
Aotea Group's funding will be put directly towards research grants through The Otago Medical Research Foundation, Canterbury Medical Research Foundation and the Auckland Medical Foundation.
We all benefit from the answers found through medical research, whether that be personally, through parents or children, partners or siblings, workmates or their friends. We will all know many who wouldn’t be with us had it not been for the discoveries made, the earlier diagnosis and less invasive treatment that research unveils.
"We wanted to invest in a cause that is able to provide real and long-lasting health benefits to New Zealanders, whom we value deeply as our clients and staff members. Partnering with the likes of Canterbury, Otago and Auckland Medical Research Foundations means our organisation can make a real difference, and leave a legacy for the future." - Paul Parsons, Aotea Group CEO.
Otago Medical Research Foundation
The Otago Medical Research Foundation grant, which has been awarded to researcher Professor Rosyln Kemp of Otago University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, will contribute towards Professor Kemp’s research in Exploring Short Chain Fatty Acids as Immune Modulators for Cancer Therapy.
The following is the abstract for the research project and explains what will be researched.
Lay Abstract of Research
The immune response is an important mechanism for destroying tumours. In cancer patients, a high number of T cells in the tumour is associated with positive patient outcomes, and immune therapies that improve T cell function have increased patient survival. The function of T cells, and T cell mediated therapies, have been linked with microbial communities. Our research will focus on the molecules produced by bacteria, and how they can change T cell function. We will test whether the bacterial molecules can enhance T cell mediated immune responses.
Cancer affects a diverse range of people in all different walks of life, all across New Zealand. In 2018 the Ministry of Health recorded 26,158 new cancer registrations and states that Cancer is New Zealand’s biggest cause of death.
Canterbury Medical Research Foundation
With the help of Aotea Group's funding, the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation is providing three university students with the opportunity to partake in their summer research projects focussing on the likes of diabetes, immunology, mental health and nutrition. Each student will be provided with $5000 funding towards their ten week intensive research, completing in early 2022.
Auckland Medical Research Foundation
Aotea Group also support the Auckland Medical Research Foundation, providing funding for the highest quality medical research projects, doctoral scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships and researcher travel grants. This sponsorship provides many promising young scientists with the vital start they need to progress in their chosen field of research. This in turn helps New Zealand to retain talented researchers and attract others back to our shores.
Aotea Group businesses are all locally owned and operated, and connected within their communities. Aotea Group strongly values community and sees that medical research will not only benefit members of the Aotea Group, and their whānau, but support those in the wider communities that the company serves.
