Our governance

We are resourced with some of the greatest minds in New Zealand and international science working to focus our work through our Directorate, Oversight Board, International Science Advisory Board, Māori Advisory Board, and Research Advisory Committee.

Directorate

The Centre for Brain Research has strong Māori leadership through the Director, Sir Richard Faull (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Rāhiri), the Deputy Director, Clinical Professor Alan Barber (Ngāti Porou, Whakatōhea), and the Deputy Director - Māori, Dr Makarena Dudley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu).

The CBR Directorate comprises the following members:

Distinguished Professor Sir Richard Faull, KNZM, FRSNZ (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Rāhiri)
Distinguished Professor Sir Richard Faull is the Director of the Centre for Brain Research and a Distinguished Professor of Anatomy at the University of Auckland.

Dr Makarena Dudley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu)
Dr Makarena Dudley is the Deputy-Director (Māori) of the Centre for Brain Research and is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Psychology, University of Auckland.

Professor Alan Barber (Ngāti Porou, Whakatōhea)
Professor Alan Barber is the Deputy-Director (Clinical) of the Centre for Brain Research and a practising neurologist.

Associate Professor Deborah Young
Associate Professor Deborah Young is Associate Director (Outreach) of the Centre for Brain Research and Director of the NeuroDiscovery Behavioural Unit within the centre.

Professor Lynette Tippett ONZM
Lynette Tippett is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Auckland and the Associate Director of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinics at the Centre for Brain Research.

Professor Steven Dakin
Professor Steven Dakin is the Chair of Research Advisory Board at the Centre for Brain Research and a Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science.

Dr Dean Robinson
Dr Dean Robinson is the Research Operations Manager of the Centre for Brain Research.

Dianne Stacevicius
Dianne Stacevicius is the Research Coordinator of the Centre for Brain Research.

Oversight Board

Our Oversight Board is responsible for shaping and guiding the strategic direction of the Centre for Brain Research.

Co-Chair, Professor John Fraser, FRSNZ
Professor John Fraser is the Dean of the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. He is responsible for the overall strategic leadership, governance and management of the faculty.

Co-Chair, Professor John Hosking, FRSNZ
John is Dean of Science, assuming the role in June 2014. Prior to that, he was Dean of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University and before that he was Professor of Applied Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Auckland.

Deputy Chair, David Mace, FCANZ, FCIS, FHKSA
David Mace is the Chairman of the Freemasons Roskill Foundation. He is a Chartered Accountant and has held numerous managerial and directorial positions at the world’s largest accountancy firms.

Dame Jo Brosnahan, DNZM, QSO, MA Hons, FCILT, FNZIM
Jo Brosnahan is the founding Chair of Leadership NZ, the Chair of Landcare Research and a director on a number of boards.

Wendy Fleming, CRSNZ
Wendy Fleming is a Registered Nurse, Honorary Vice President of Alzheimers Disease International, Life member Alzheimers New Zealand, Past Chair Alzheimers New Zealand Charitable Trust and Patron of Dementia Canterbury. Additionally, she is responsible for raising funds for research into dementia.

Dr Richard Frith
Dr Richard Frith is a neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist at ADHB. He is Chair of the A+ Trust, the Charitable Trust associated with the Auckland District Health Board (ADHB), and Chair of the Julius Brendel Trust.

Dr John Villiger
Dr John Villiger has spent 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry working predominantly in drug development. He has served on several boards of Australasian biotechnology companies and the University of Auckland.

Professor Papaarangi Reid (Te Rarawa)
Professor Reid is Tumuaki (Deputy Dean – Māori) and Head of Te Kupenga Hauora Māori at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland

The Venerable Lloyd Popata (Ngāti Kahu)
Llyod Popata is a reverend and the chairperson of the Te Iwi o Ngati Kahu Trust.

International Science Advisory Board

This group of international experts ensure that the activities of our centre remain focused on our research goals, so that all appropriate opportunities and challenges developing from the centre's activities are fully realised.

Chair, Professor Anne Young
Professor Young is the Distinguished Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. She established the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND).

Professor Chris Shaw
Christopher Shaw is Professor of Neurology and Neurogenetics, Head of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Director of the Medical Research Council Centre for Neurodegeneration Research and Director of the Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

Professor Stephen Davis
Professor Davis is the Director of the Melbourne Brain Centre. He is the inaugural Professor of Translational Neuroscience at the University of Melbourne.  

Professor Wickliffe Abraham
Professor Wickliffe Abraham has played a leading role in promoting neuroscience research and teaching at the University of Otago. In 1997, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and in 2007 he was awarded a Royal Society of New Zealand James Cook Fellowship.

Professor Perry Bartlett, FAA
Perry is the Professor of Molecular Neuroscience at the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland. He is internationally renowned in the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience.

Professor Donna Rose Addis
Donna Rose Addis is a Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto.

Professor Ann Graybiel
Ann Graybiel is an Institute Professor at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and an Investigator at the McGovern Institute, based in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  

Māori Advisory Board

The Māori Advisory Board guides the Centre for Brain Research on tikanga, Māori engagement and development, and how to conduct research for and with Māori.

  • Chair, Dr Makarena Dudley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu)
  • Distinguished Professor Sir Richard Faull (Ngāti Rāhiri, Te Ātiawa)
  • Professor Papaarangi Reid (Te Rarawa)
  • Dame Rangimārie Naida Glavish (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi)
  • Dame Aroha Reriti-Crofts (Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Ngāi Tahu)
  • Matua John Paitai (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi)
  • Dame Naida Glavish (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi)
  • Associate Professor Marama Muru-Lanning (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whātua)
  • Dr Waiora Port (Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Pinaki; Te Rarawa, Ngāti Maroki)
  • Whaea Kaanga Skipper (Tainui)
  • Whaea Julie Wade (Waikato)
  • Matua Rangi Mclean (Tuhoe, Ngāti Porou, Waikato-Ngāti Māniapoto)
  • Dr Geremy Hema (Ngāti Paoa, Te Rarawa)
  • The Venerable Lloyd Popata (Ngāti Kahu)
  • Meikyla Mason (Ngāpuhi)
  • Tori Bensemann (Ngāti Maniapoto)
  • Huhana Pene (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Porou)
  • Raniera Pene (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Waikato, Ngāpuhi)

Research Advisory Committee

The Research Advisory Committee consists of leading scientists from across the centre. They help to shape the ongoing development of the centre and its staff and students.