Professor Stephen Robertson has been the Cure Kids Chair of Paediatric Genetics at the University of Otago since 2002.

Prof Robertson has gained international acclaim in his field for his expertise in the field of genetic mutations, specifically those affecting the skeleton and the brain.

He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Otago, Dunedin, where he would eventually return more than a decade later. During his absence from Otago, he held the prestigious Nuffield Scholarship at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the world-leading Oxford University. Also specialising in paediatrics, Prof Robertson is a clinician who sees children with varying degrees of malformation on a regular basis.

Prof Robertson’s work has seen him and his team discover genes that are implicated in a number of genetic disorders. These include familial disorders where a number of members of a particular family are affected with life-affecting, even fatal, conditions. One such story involved Robertson working tirelessly with a whanau in the far North who were inexplicably losing children soon after birth. After a long journey, he identified the gene which was responsible for the babies’ deaths enabling a diagnosis to be made. This was also fundamental in giving the whanau information regarding future offspring as well as the peace of mind of knowing what happened to their loved ones.

“What we’re about is helping people understand and live with disability as best they can, and part of that’s through giving information about what causes it.”

Prof Robertson and his team continue to work to characterise and better understand rare, yet significant, diseases that affect a number of New Zealand children.

Dr Anderson is a trained nurse, with a MPhil in clinical pharmacology and a PhD in medicine and therapeutics. Her previous research interests included pharmacogenetics, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. She previously spent a decade researching and lecturing in clinical pharmacology and statistics at universities in Hong Kong and working in the region’s Poisons Information Bureau.

Professor Andrew Day holds the chair of Paediatric Research at University of Otago, Christchurch.

Professor Andrew Day undertook his medical training at University of Otago, New Zealand. After his initial paediatric training in Christchurch, he completed clinical and research fellowship training at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. In 2000, he took up appointments at the University of New South Wales and Sydney Children’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia. Professor Day then returned to NZ in 2009 to take an academic position at University of Otago (Christchurch) and a clinical position (Paediatric Gastroenterologist) at Christchurch Hospital. In 2017, Prof Day was appointed as Cure Kids Chair of Paediatric Research in Christchurch.

The overall objectives of Prof Day’s ongoing research activities are to delineate and define aspects of gastrointestinal inflammation, especially in the context of inflammatory bowel disease, and to define how interactions occurring at the gastrointestinal epithelial border between the host and the environment affect disease pathogenesis and manifestations. This has focused especially upon epithelial responses to inflammatory stimuli, host innate immune responses and to modulation of these responses with therapeutic intervention, providing clinical relevance to laboratory activities. He has an ongoing active and productive research program, with local and international collaborations, leading to more than 220 peer-reviewed publications and numerous other presentations or publications.

Professor Dalziel is the Cure Kids Chair of Child Health Research.

He is a Professor in the School of Medicine’s Departments of Surgery and Paediatrics, Director of Emergency Medicine Research and a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Specialist, Children’s Emergency Department, at Starship Children’s Hospital. He is also the current chair of the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT, Australasia’s paediatric emergency medicine research network) and Vice-Chair of the Paediatric Emergency Research Network (PERN), a collaboration of the six major international paediatric emergency medicine research networks.

Originally from Hawke’s Bay, he trained at the Universities of Otago and Auckland, returning to New Zealand over a decade ago following a fellowship post at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. Professor Dalziel’s research is strongly aligned to his everyday clinical practice as a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Specialist. It focuses on both medical emergencies, such as status epilepticus (the most common paediatric neurological emergency), and common paediatric conditions, such as asthma and bronchiolitis (the most common reason for infants to be admitted to hospital). Professor Dalziel has received numerous local and international awards for mentoring and research excellence. He is actively involved in the leadership of a number of international research networks which directly address important questions related to the acute care of children.

Her specialist expertise is in mental health, nursing, social determinants of health, and health services for young Māori. Much of her research has focused on depression, suicide, and delivery of equity in mental health for young Māori. Prof Clark also holds a range of governance and advisory roles related to young people, Māori health, and mental health. Since 1998 Prof Clark has been the Principal Investigator and Co-Lead of the Youth2000 series of national surveys on youth health and wellbeing. She is a founding member of the national Adolescent Health Research Group. In 2022, Prof Clark joined Cure Kids' Medical & Scientific Advisory Committee.

Dr Chris McKinlay received his medical education at the University of Auckland, before specialising in paediatrics and neonatology in Auckland and Melbourne. He was awarded a PhD in Paediatrics from the University of Auckland in 2012. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health and works as a consultant neonatologist at Middlemore Hospital. His research focuses on the early life origins of metabolic disease, lung disease and developmental impairment. He undertakes clinical trials to improve the care of newborn babies, ultimately aiming to improve their long-term health.

Professor Wiltshire completed his undergraduate training in Medicine at the University of Otago, before working in the greater Wellington region while completing a Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Diploma in Paediatrics. He undertook advanced training in general paediatrics, followed by paediatric endocrinology and metabolic disease, in Adelaide, South Australia. During this time he also completed his doctorate, investigating early vascular disease in children with diabetes, before returning to Wellington as a senior lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago Wellington and Paediatrician/Paediatric Endocrinologist for CCDHB. He has overseen development of services in Paediatric endocrinology and diabetes since 2001.

Professor Wiltshire's primary areas of research involve investigation of the acute and chronic complications of diabetes, particularly their pathophysiology and early development, and treatment. The aims of this research are to identify factors involved in the early pathogenesis of the vascular complications of diabetes, when interventions will have the greatest effect along with identification and treatment of hypoglycaemia. More recent research has been investigating use of technology in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. he is also involved in clinical research in a range of other endocrine conditions. He has served as a council member and president of the Australasian Paediatric Endocrinology Society and was past chair of the International Consortium for Paediatric Endocrinology (an organisation linking all the Paediatric Endocrine Societies around the world).

His specialist expertise is in mental health, psychometrics, health services, and Māori health. Prof Kingi leads a research theme for the 'Growing Up in NZ' longitudinal study of child health, and holds a range of governance roles throughout the health, research, and science sectors, including for the Royal Society of NZ, the Health Research Council, EMERGE Aotearoa, and the National Institute for Economic and Demographic Research. Prof Kingi is on Cure Kids' Medical & Scientific Advisory Committee, and leads the process for peer review of Grant applications by Māori experts.

She has specific expertise in respiratory and rheumatic heart disease in young children, and her research has encompassed maternal and child health, climate change and health, child obesity, health systems and informatics.

Assoc. Prof Percival has worked in both New Zealand and throughout the Pacific region in both clinical and research roles.

She is Vice-President of the Pasifika Medical Association, Chair of Fale Futures Trust, Chair of South Seas Healthcare, a trustee of Ta Pasifika Primary Health Organisation, and serves on a number of government health advisory groups. Assoc. Prof Percival was awarded a Queen’s Service Order medal in 2010, and in 2023, she received a King's Birthday Honours as Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health and the Pacific community.

Prof Walls graduated from the University of Otago and trained as a general paediatrician. He then moved to London to train in Infectious Diseases at the Royal London Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Before returning to New Zealand he worked as a Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, where he was the lead clinician for the Paediatric HIV Service.

His current research interests include the epidemiology of infections in children, the diagnosis and management of paediatric bone and joint infections and vaccinating pregnant women to protect their infants. He is Co-Director of the recently established Research for Children Aotearoa research collaborative which brings together researchers from across institutions, regions and disciplines to enhance community-led child health research.

Professor Walls is also an advisor to PHARMAC and the New Zealand Ministry of Health on vaccine policy matters, and is an author on the National Immunisation Handbook.