University of Otago
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As New Zealand's first university, founded in 1869, Otago has earned an international reputation for the quality of its research and teaching. In 2007 Otago will have over 20,000 students enrolled and has a presence in each of the four main cities of New Zealand - Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The academic and administrative centre of the University continues to be located in Dunedin, where the majority of students live and work.
WELLINGTON — Two studies by the University of Otago, Wellington, have shown that the use of trained interpreters by doctors and health professionals in New Zealand is inadequate, and needs more funding.
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A University of Otago scientist is among ten top researchers who have been awarded highly sought-after fellowships to help them develop their research careers in New Zealand.
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OTAGO — Six highly promising academic staff members have been recognised through the University of Otago's latest Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research.
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Research led by the University of Otago, Wellington shows that senior officials, health practitioners, decision-makers and opinion-leaders support bold new ways of thinking being explored to achieve a tobacco-free New Zealand.
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Middle-aged women who eat slowly are much less likely to be overweight or obese than those who eat at a faster pace, according to new University of Otago research.
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OTAGO — Outstanding postgraduate supervisors were recognised on Friday evening at an event run jointly by the University of Otago and the Otago University Students’ Association.
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The annual Children’s Social Monitor Update shows that although there have been some improvements over the last year, there are still serious concerns about the wellbeing of New Zealand’s children, with stark differences in the levels of ill health, abuse and neglect for different groups of children.
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Ever wondered how neurons evolved, why people have always had an urge to travel to Antarctica or whether gastric bypass can help cure diabetes? These are just three of the questions being asked by University of Otago doctoral students from among the nine thesis projects being presented in just three minutes at the University’s Three Minute Thesis competition on Wednesday 31 August.
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Development of silver nanoparticle-based materials for treating dental caries has won two University of Otago researchers the 2011 Otago Innovation Proof of Concept Grant worth $50,000.
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The University of Otago has continued to feature as one of the world’s leading universities, according to the internationally respected Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities.
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OTAGO — A conference focusing on how Christians should respond to the strident “New Atheism” movement that has emerged in recent years will be held at the University of Otago early next month.
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A video putting the spotlight on the looming health crisis threatened by our growing obesity epidemic, and how to avert it, is being launched by University of Otago researchers.
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OTAGO — The point at which science and storytelling meet is being celebrated in the inaugural ScienceTeller Festival held by the University of Otago’s Centre for Science Communication from 15-19 November 2011.
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Leading medical specialists, public health researchers and nutritionists warn that not enough is being done to prevent the rapidly increasing diabetes rates, largely caused by significant increases in obesity in adults and children in recent years.
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In one of the largest human genetic studies ever undertaken, scientists have identified the major common genetic variants that contribute to the cause of the devastating neurologic disease, multiple sclerosis (MS).
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Six years after the Boxing Day tsunami that devastated coastal communities throughout South East Asia, survivors in southern Sri Lanka still struggle to make sense of the tragedy, according to new research by Dr Michael Bourk at the University of Otago.
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New Zealanders aged 60 and over appear to wrongly believe they are at low risk of the fatal form of skin cancer melanoma, according to a new University of Otago study conducted for the Cancer Society of New Zealand.
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A University of Otago, Christchurch, study has found that working at least 50 hours a week increases the risk of alcohol problems by up to three times.
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OTAGO — The Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key will today officially open the University of Otago’s Robertson Library, following the completion earlier this year of a $10 million re-design and refurbishment.
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University of Otago research examining why numbers of the threatened New Zealand sea lion, Phocarctos hookeri, are declining on their main breeding ground of the Auckland Islands has identified squid fishing as the most likely cause.
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A University of Otago Senior Teaching Fellow has won an award for sustained excellence in this year’s national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards.
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The University of Otago’s second Graduate Research Month kicks off next week and promises to be even bigger and brighter than the inaugural event in 2010.
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University of Otago researchers at the School of Pharmacy have found that rural Māori are much less likely to receive antibiotics in spite of the fact that they need them more due to far higher rates of rheumatic fever.
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The University of Otago will confer the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature on leading New Zealand poet and writer Brian Turner at a graduation ceremony next month.
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Repeat abortions are significantly reduced if women use long-acting reversible contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) after an abortion.
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OTAGO — The University of Otago Council has approved a proposal to establish a new study and social centre at the site of the former Gardens Tavern in Castle Street.
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The University of Otago, together with Massey University and partners Whakauae Research, and Tala Pasifika, is launching ASPIRE 2025, a new research collaboration designed to help achieve a tobacco-free New Zealand.
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An outstanding specialist on infectious diseases has been appointed to a second endowed professorial chair in the Centre for International Health at the University of Otago.
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Health research at the University of Otago has received a major boost, gaining $27.5M in the Health Research Council's (HRC) latest annual funding round.
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OTAGO — Renowned UK epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot will be the keynote speaker at a wide-ranging symposium on health equity and the social determinants of health being held at the University of Otago, Wellington this Wednesday and co-hosted by the New Zealand Medical Association.
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OTAGO — A promising University of Otago student who developed an innovative screening procedure to identify New Zealand army personnel most at risk of lower leg and back injuries has been recognised with a scholarship to develop her concept further.
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Although progress has been made in reducing health inequities, an editorial in today's New Zealand Medical Journal proposes the next ten most important actions needed to further reduce significant health "gaps‟ based on ethnicity and socio-economic status in New Zealand.
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Little is known about the number of women in New Zealand who experience infertility; their use of health services and their knowledge and attitudes towards the condition and its treatment.
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DUNEDIN — Drinking by one or both partners increases levels of severity, anger and fear reported by victims of intimate partner aggression, according to a new study by University of Otago researchers.
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OTAGO — The Government’s rural broadband initiatives are likely to be very important for rural Otago communities, according to a recent survey conducted by Professor Geoff Kearsley from Otago University’s Department of Media, Film and Communication.
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DUNEDIN — To celebrate Ralph Hotere's momentous 80th birthday, the Hocken is mounting a large and exciting exhibition of approximately fifty of his artworks, to open at the Library's gallery this coming Saturday July 9.
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DUNEDIN — The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as probiotics, herbal treatments and osteopathy, for children has almost doubled in the past decade, according to new research.
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DUNEDIN — Excitement and experimentation are key factors in the teaching styles of the three recipients of this year’s University of Otago Teaching Excellence Awards.
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A ground-breaking study of women who have given birth in New Zealand, Scotland and England, has found the strongest evidence yet that having caesarean sections does not always protect women from the common and often distressing after-effect of urinary or faecal incontinence.
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DUNEDIN — A University of Otago scientist has been appointed to a key position in a major international initiative aimed at reversing the alarming decline of frog populations worldwide.
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WELLINGTON CITY — Research by the University of Otago, Wellington shows that growing numbers of intoxicated people presenting at the Emergency Department of Wellington Hospital verbally and physically abuse staff on a regular basis, and have a negative impact on other patients.
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DUNEDIN — Many people keep their medicines in places that may be too hot and humid, or too cold, to keep them safe to use, new University of Otago research suggests.
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CHRISTCHURCH — University of Otago, Christchurch, researchers have found that a natural fruit source of vitamin C – kiwifruit – is vastly superior to a purified supplement form.
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DUNEDIN — Older people cannot lie as convincingly as younger people, are worse at detecting when others are lying, and the latter is linked to age-related decline in emotion recognition, new University of Otago research suggests.
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DUNEDIN — University of Otago researchers have gained Health Research Council (HRC) funding for two collaborative projects aimed at improving New Zealand patient services in primary mental health and arthritis, respectively.
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DUNEDIN — University of Otago researchers have uncovered further evidence that PAX genes − members of a small family of genes that play important roles in embryonic development – also allow cancer cells to grow and divide in adult tissue.
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DUNEDIN — Researchers at the University of Otago say standard medication used for acute heart disease should be reconsidered for some Maori and Pacific Island patients because of drug resistance caused by high rates of Group A streptococcal infection, the same infection which leads to rheumatic fever.
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DUNEDIN — ‘Science diplomacy’, which has become the new catch-cry for international relations, will go under the spotlight at the University of Otago’s annual Foreign Policy School next month.
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WELLINGTON CITY — New Zealand’s success in reducing its food borne campylobacteriosis epidemic is receiving international attention.
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DUNEDIN — New University of Otago research suggests that the amount of heat generated in the roof cavity of a typical pre-1940s wooden house is insufficient to heat homes when people would most need the warmth; in winter, on cloudy days and at night.
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DUNEDIN — A new analysis of scientific articles published in international journals since 2000 has judged the University of Otago as being amongst the best research institutions in the world for oceanography.
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QUEENSTOWN — From July (2011), business people and aspiring entrepreneurs will have the chance to complete a University of Otago Master of Entrepreneurship programme in Queenstown.
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DUNEDIN — The University of Otago has selected the head of one of New Zealand’s most renowned research institutes to take up the senior leadership role for research at the University.
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DUNEDIN — Two up-and-coming University of Otago researchers, Senior Lecturer in Law Ms Jacinta Ruru and Christchurch-based Associate Professor of Medicine Richard Troughton, are the latest recipients of the Rowheath Trust Award and Carl Smith Medal.
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DUNEDIN — A paper published in the international scientific journal Drug & Alcohol Review examining the alcohol bill presently before Parliament argues that it falls well short of the major reform promised by government.
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DUNEDIN — The University of Otago announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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WELLINGTON CITY — Serious skin infection rates in New Zealand children have increased markedly over the last two decades according to new research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
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New evidence that a combined oral contraceptive pill containing the progestogen hormone drospirenone appears to put women at higher risk of blood clots than older types containing levonorgestrel has just been published by researchers at the University of Otago and Boston University.
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Rural pubs appear to be following the current smokefree law according to a new study.
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OTAGO — In late 2009, Otago University art historian Associate Professor Mark Stocker was innocently asked for advice on a historic bronze statuette of the celebrated founder of Canterbury, John Robert Godley, which was for sale in a London antique shop.
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The imminent loss of the internationally-acclaimed Moriori-carved trees on the Chatham Islands National Historic Reserve constitutes a “national conservation crisis” which needs urgent attention, says new University of Otago research.
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The new Professor of Accountancy at the University of Otago School of Business, Professor David Lont, believes the University is in a strong position to significantly bolster its research into the complex world of accounting and company behaviour.
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WELLINGTON — Food insecurity appears to be a growing problem in New Zealand and according to latest research from the University of Otago, Wellington is associated with elevated levels of psychological distress amongst thousands of adults.
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Maori women have had the highest rates and the largest increase in breast cancer over the last two decades according to new research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
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OTAGO — University of Otago researchers have discovered an association between the number of liquor outlets within easy walking distance of home (1km) and the level of binge drinking and alcohol related harm reported in the community.
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CHRISTCHURCH — Christchurch researchers are examining the role of genes in two of New Zealand’s most common mental illnesses – depression and alcohol addiction.
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OTAGO — Two University of Otago students have been awarded prestigious scholarships from the Rutherford Foundation to undertake their PhDs at the University of Cambridge in England, following in the footsteps of Lord Ernest Rutherford.
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OTAGO — Young adult smokers between 18 and 30 are more likely to consider giving up cigarettes if branding on the front of packets is greatly reduced and graphic health warnings are significantly increased in size.
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CHRISTCHURCH — The Director of the acclaimed Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), Professor David Fergusson, is this year’s recipient of the University of Otago’s highest research honour, the Distinguished Research Medal.
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DUNEDIN — A University of Otago student has been awarded a prestigious Woolf Fisher Scholarship to undertake doctoral study at Oxford University.
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Food manufacturers and the public health sector are at loggerheads over front-of-pack nutrition labelling, according to an editorial in today’s issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal.
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Alcohol has become increasingly affordable in New Zealand over the last decade and is now cheaper in some instances than bottled water, and close to the cost of milk, according to latest research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
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The University of Otago has selected Professor Peter Crampton as its next Pro-Vice- Chancellor, Health Sciences.
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University of Otago Emeritus Professor Sir Alan Mark has received the 2010 Charles Fleming Award for Environmental Achievement, the Royal Society of New Zealand announced yesterday.
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Early and heavy drinking during high school years associated with later problems New Zealand university students who drink heavily report considerably more unsafe sex, unhappy sexual experiences and unwanted advances than their lightly drinking peers, according to a new survey of students at five universities.
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A group of New Zealand researchers says it is time to begin thinking about phasing out cigarette sales, not just reducing the level of smoking.
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A University of Otago scientist has gained a prestigious James Cook Research Fellowship to investigate the crucial roles that a previously overlooked cell structure plays in health and disease.
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Professor Richie Poulton, who heads the University of Otago’s world-acclaimed Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
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Despite strong public and smoker support for smokefree area changes, research from the University of Otago, Wellington indicates that New Zealand politicians and health officials prefer education to protect children, not regulation.
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A University of Otago-led archaeological investigation of campsites up to 50,000 years old in a remote highland valley of Papua New Guinea is revealing how highly adaptable the humans at the forefront of global colonisation were.
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DUNEDIN — In a major physics breakthrough with international significance, University of Otago scientists have developed a technique to consistently isolate and capture a fast-moving neutral atom – and have also seen and photographed this atom for the first time.
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DUNEDIN — The Labour Party has announced a change in its health and tax policy to include removing GST from fresh fruit and vegetables.
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DUNEDIN — University of Otago researchers have received major support from the prestigious Marsden Fund for a wide variety of innovative studies that will push the boundaries of current knowledge.
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TASMAN — Fresh archaeological research from the University of Otago has found new evidence which finally provides a plausible explanation as to why local Māori, seemingly without provocation, famously attacked Abel Tasman’s Dutch crew in Golden Bay on 19 December 1642, killing three European sailors.
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New research from the University of Otago, Christchurch, shows young drinkers are ignoring safe sex messages and significantly raising their risks of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
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DUNEDIN — The University of Otago School of Business, in partnership with the New Zealand Student Development Society, is hosting a major international business case competition at Queenstown that begins on Sunday.
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Just published research has found an extensive use of leading tobacco brand names and brand images on YouTube, closely associated with pro-smoking content or smoking imagery.
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A new report on Māori cancer trends by researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington shows progress in some areas, but that there is considerably more to be done to improve Māori health prospects.
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An informed public does not place personal privacy above societal benefits when it comes to using and linking health information for research, according to the outcome of deliberations by a citizens’ jury.
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Research at Otago University to develop a better screening test for the early detection of prostate cancer has been advanced due to a $30,000 grant from the Men’s Health Trust New Zealand.
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Research into the healthcare needs and issues of Australian and New Zealand Defence Force veterans, serving personnel and their families will be given renewed focus by the University of Otago, the Centre for Military and Veterans Health (CMVH) and the University of Queensland - now that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed.
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DUNEDIN — A previously unknown early 19th-century edition of The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer has been identified by University of Otago senior lecturer in English Dr Simone Celine Marshall, with important ramifications internationally for the study of medieval literature.
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DUNEDIN — A University of Otago international health researcher is part of a consortium that has successfully used genome scanning to identify a gene associated with increased susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) in African populations.
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Increasing differences in life expectancy between high and low income groups since the early 1980s provide evidence of the impact of social determinants, such as income, on inequalities in health in New Zealand, according to latest research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
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Māori would experience significant gains in life expectancy of about five years, and non-Māori three years, if tobacco sales were ended by 2020 and the gains projected to 2040, according to latest research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
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DUNEDIN — Cutting-edge New Zealand genomic research is set to be boosted following the acquisition of a new DNA sequencer by the University of Otago.
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New Zealand politicians and officials put smokers’ rights before the health of children when considering smoking in cars, according to a study by the University of Otago, Wellington.
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University of Otago Zoology Senior Lecturer and frog advocate Dr Phil Bishop has received a Sustained Excellence Award at this year’s national awards for top tertiary teachers.
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WELLINGTON — The first ever study of pregnant women in New Zealand with severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM) found that 35% of those admitted to intensive care had a potentially preventable “near miss” event.
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