Update from our friends at the Centre for Brain Research:

denise8855
2 days ago
3 min read

Kia ora Denise and Kim (and all your fantastic contributors through PaR nz Golfing Holidays),

As wonderful supporters of the Centre for Brain Research and champions of MND research, I have great pleasure in writing to let you know about the appointment of Professor Hanneke Hulst from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands as our next Director of the CBR. She will be taking up the position on 1 December 2025.

Professor Hulst is an internationally respected neuroscientist who has led groundbreaking work in cognitive neuroscience and neurorehabilitation. She has a deep passion for research that connects directly with people and will continue her focus on exploring the underlying mechanisms of cognitive decline to improve patient care.

It has been a humble privilege and pleasure to have been the founding Director of the CBR since our launch in November 2009. It has been a dream come true — and it has only happened because of the extraordinary support of our friends and donors like you. Your generosity has been vital to the growth and development of the CBR over the past 16 years, helping us become one of the world’s leading brain research centres.

When we launched in 2009, we comprised 25 research groups and a small number of clinicians. Today, we have 102 research groups across the University, involving more than 500 researchers from the Faculties of Science, Medical and Health Sciences, Arts and Education and Engineering and Design, and the Auckland Bioengineering and Liggins Institutes and over 60 clinicians in our hospitals and communities. In 2023, we were formally named one of the University’s seven flagship research centres. This progress has only been possible because of your support — and the support of the community, families, and whānau throughout Aotearoa. The Centre’s international scientific reputation has been achieved by the commitment and collaborative research of our world class scientists and clinicians across the University of Auckland and Auckland’s hospitals.

Thanks to the generous funding and support from our donors and philanthropic community, we’ve now established 11 research platforms addressing the major neurological conditions which affect people in our communities.

From the beginning, our ethos has been that people are at the centre of our universe. The Centre was built to bring together researchers across the University and clinicians in the hospitals and community, working as a team with the community to deliver world-class research breakthroughs that change lives and give hope to people with brain disease.

Our vision has always been to embrace and serve all the people of Aotearoa New Zealand. In recent years, a major focus has been our commitment to embracing Māori and taking our research developments to iwi, hapū and whānau through marae visits across the length and breadth of Aotearoa. Alongside our public events, lectures, and partnerships with community organisations involved in brain disease, this outreach has been one of the great successes of the Centre. Thank you for helping make this happen.

Helping people with brain disease through our transformative research in my time as Director has been the crowning glory of my career. Although I’ll be stepping aside as Director on 1 December 2025 with the appointment of Professor Hulst, I’ll be remaining at the University and the CBR as a Distinguished Professor in a half-time role. I simply can’t give up the excitement of brain research — there is still so much to do!

I’ll continue leading my own research programmes and supporting our new Director as she transitions into this exciting role, and I will also remain engaged with our CBR donors and supporters. In addition I will remain committed to our outreach and engagement with Māori communities throughout Aotearoa, which is very close to my heart.

Please join me in warmly welcoming Professor Hulst as the new Director of the CBR. I know you’ll share in my excitement as we watch the Centre grow and expand, while continuing its commitment to bring world-class brain research to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ngā mihi nui,

Richard

Sir Richard Faull KNZM, FRSNZ

Te Ati Awa, Ngati Rahiri

University Distinguished Professor

Director, Centre for Brain Research | Te Huinga Hinengaro

Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland