Māori fellow Theresa Pankhurst joins the Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship

Linterman lab fellow, Dr Theresa Pankhurst, has been awarded a Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship from the Te Niwha Infectious Diseases Research Platform and access to an intensive 12-month leadership programme. The aims of the programme are to develop and equip researchers working in infectious disease with the ability to operate as research leaders in ways that align with the Te Niwha framework of integrity and accountability, relationships, ability to partner for impact, and leadership. In this way, Te Niwha will contribute to the development of world-class research capability to strengthen New Zealand’s pandemic preparedness.

Theresa already holds the inaugural Te Urungi Churchill College By-Fellowship, a unique fellowship between the Institute and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington, New Zealand which supports her to undertake research that strives for equitable health outcomes for Māori. Her research focus is understanding how age affects the function of our immune system in order to find ways to maintain stronger immune function with age and secure robust vaccination responses, and hence protection, in older people. She studies how specialised immune microsites called germinal centres change in response to mRNA vaccines and with age. This knowledge is being translated into pre-clinical testing of Malaghan-made mRNA vaccines that aim to rejuvenate the ageing immune system.

After the completion of Theresa’s first year with us, we caught up with Theresa to learn more about the exciting experiences ahead of her as she becomes more connected with Māori communities and perspectives through sharing knowledge, and about how she’s finding life at the Institute and in the UK.

How excited are you about the Fellowship, within the goals and principles of the Te Niwha, and how does this build on or extend the work you have done as the Te Urungi Churchill College By-Fellow? 

I am very excited to embark on this unique journey as a Kia Niwha Fellow. My aspirations as a researcher align strongly with the goals and principles of Te Niwha, that is: building leadership skills (Rangatiratanga) to conduct research with integrity (Tiakitanga), forming relationships (Hononga) across diverse communities with the opportunity for partnership (Tūhonotanga). The Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship extends my time here at the Institute and is complementary to the Te Urungi Churchill College By-Fellowship, so I can further drive the research I am doing in the Linterman Lab as part of our BBSRC International Partnering Award. 

I’m really glad that I’m here at a time when there’s a deepening relationship being created between the Institute and the Malaghan Institute, spanning collaboration in our science but also in sharing expertise in flow cytometry, communications and increasing awareness of Māori culture and how the Malaghan works to incorporate Māori views and beliefs into their work. Seminars from several researchers at the Malaghan have been warmly received at the Institute and I’m particularly looking forward to Prof. Clive Aspin’s upcoming seminar on pandemics, Māori and equity at the end of August (open to everyone!).

The Fellowship will focus on leadership development. How important do you think it is that early career researchers start to develop these skills?

I think it’s important for early career researchers to develop leadership skills so that the knowledge we obtain during our research journey can be shared with those around us. Sharing knowledge means that we can all be uplifted by the work we do.

I think it’s all too common to think ‘I’ll develop those skills when I’m older or more senior’, but what the Kia Niwha programme highlights is that it’s never too early to develop your leadership style and that leadership is something that takes many forms. It’s certainly made me reconsider what leadership means to me.

One important feature of the Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship programme is the wānanga (residential workshops) that provide immersive experiences of Māori history, culture, perspectives and illustrate different approaches to leadership. Can you describe the first wānanga for us?

As part of the Fellowship programme, the six Fellows and guests will be hosted by different iwi (Māori tribes) at their marae (meeting houses). Marae are highly sacred to Māori and being hosted on one is a great honour. When on a marae there are specific tikanga (protocols) that must be followed. For example; you must be formally welcomed onto a marae in what is called a pōwhiri. During pōwhiri there are speeches and singing in Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) and end with hongi (pressing of noses/sharing breath) and sharing food together. Wānanga also have a barrier-breaking culture; for the duration we eat, sleep and talk communally. It’s a running joke for Māori that you always need to bring ear plugs for your marae stay – there’s always a snorer in the group!

Our first wānanga, when we came together for the first time in June, was inspiring and enriching. We got to spend three days on Te Iti o Hauā Marae (a traditional Māori meeting house belonging to the Ngāti Hauā tribe). I’m so grateful for the first-hand experiences that were shared with me, opening my eyes to different forms of leadership. The workshop gave visibility to the very powerful connection between culture, experience, recovery from injustices, resilience in the face of hardship and process of regaining autonomy.

A major theme at the wānanga was that leadership is about sharing knowledge. We were very fortunate to draw from the leadership experiences of Sir Ashley Bloomfield and Glenda Raumati during an intensive workshop and discussion about leadership values and styles. In addition, Te Pora Thompson, Director of Te Niwha (who belongs to Ngāti Hauā and the marae we were staying on), guided us through the wānanga imparting valuable wisdom throughout.

In contrast to how we often approach communication as researchers; describing the problem and the research solution, Te Pora highlighted the importance of creating a genuine personal connect and leading communication starting from your ‘why’, sharing what your values are and aligning this to what you have learned about the community you are engaging with. It made me rethink how to engage with different audiences and not to always lead with my science brain!

Being hosted by different marae at future wānanga means that we will participate in unique experiences each time and gain a wider insight into the perspectives from people that aren’t always considered within our work.

I see this fellowship as an opportunity to extend the work being done as part of the BBSRC partnership award to a range of different groups and individuals. As we meet with each community we will be sharing our research and discussing views, so it’s a way to bring people along the research journey with us.

Through building the connections with local communities, Kia Niwha Fellows will be used as a future resource. We can become the links, involved in engagement and understanding perspectives but also acting in service. Being supported to form these connections is a unique opportunity created by the Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship.

The Fellowship also recognises the importance of mentoring, has mentoring helped you in the past? Is that also something you would recommend to other early career researchers?

Absolutely, I’ve had several excellent mentors throughout my life and would absolutely recommend this to others. My mentoring experience really started during my PhD onwards. Being the first in my family to complete a PhD, having someone to guide me through the experience was really valuable. It hasn’t been until now as Kia Niwha and Te Urungi Fellow that I have Māori mentorship, and this is unlocking a whole new perspective on how I want to conduct research moving forward. I am really grateful for that. 

We’re also lucky here at the Institute that mentorship is actively promoted through several opportunities, so there are many ways to access mentorship support in the way that works for each individual according to what they’d like to get out of it.

You’ve been in the UK for just over one year now, how have you found it?

I’m loving my time here in the UK! I’ve learnt so much working with everyone in the Linterman lab and after a year I’m starting to get into the heart of the project now and excited to see where it goes, especially now that the Kia Niwha Fellowship allows me to extend my project by a year. I spent my first year optimising mouse models of vaccination and infection and I really feel that I’m getting into the heart of things now. I’m grateful for the supportive environment in the team and instantly felt at home due to the similarities in culture between the Institute and the Malaghan back home. Both institutes are in incredible locations, which makes a positive difference after an intensive time in the lab! You can step outside and instantly be revived by the landscape around you.

My connection to Churchill college and the University is something that I’m also enjoying immensely, bringing guests from home to high table dinners and sharing that experience has been a real highlight.

I’m also loving the exposure to the European-based immunology community. I’ve had the opportunity to attend conferences in Cambridge, Oxford, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland and those experiences to share research and travel have been amazing. I’ve just returned from an EMBO workshop co-organised by Michelle which brought together experts in germinal centres, which was incredible.

Away from work, I’m soaking up the UK’s music scene as much as I can. I started with Beyoncè just after I arrived in the UK and I’m still going strong!

Future plans? Where do you see your career taking you?

The purpose of the Fellowship is to build future leaders to strengthen Aotearoa’s (New Zealand’s) response to pandemics, so I see myself returning to the Malaghan Institute, bringing back the knowledge and experiences that being here in the UK has gifted me. I would like to continue my career in infectious diseases and immunology research in a way that can uplift vulnerable communities in Aotearoa and has a specific focus on community engagement.

During my time as Te Urungi Fellow with the Malaghan, and now at the Institute and with the Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship, I’ve had the privilege to meet so many amazing people which has provided a lot of insight into potential career paths and career journeys. I don’t want to restrict myself too much at the moment. What’s important to me is following the principles of: living my values, working hard to make a difference, connecting with Māori culture and weaving this into promoting equity in biomedical research, wherever that might lead me.

I’m hugely grateful to my family, Te Niwha, Te Urungi Māori, the Malaghan and Babraham Institutes - and everyone who has helped me get this far, and very excited to learn everything I can from this unique fellowship experience. I’m sure that whatever my next steps are, this fellowship will be instrumental in shaping how I approach them.

Image description: Group photo taken outside the Te Iti o Haua Marae wharenui. From left to right: Sir Ashley Bloomfield, Dr Andrew Highton (Kia Niwha Fellow), Dr Theresa Pankhurst (Kia Niwha Fellow), Dr Alice Eruera (Kia Niwha Fellow), Dr Natalie Netzler (Kia Niwha Fellow).

Hear Theresa talk about her research: Rejuvenating the immune system's defences as we age