Out of the way, but on the ball
Gisborne is at the fore of medical research thanks to team’s high-spec tech. Georgia-May Gilbertson reports.
An East Coast town might be one of the last places you’d expect to find a medical research facility set to change the lives of many.
Seven-month-old non-profit Ma¯tai in the heart of Gisborne uses experts and top-notch tech to seek more information on heart disease, brain trauma, mental illness and cancer.
Ma¯tai, meaning ‘‘to investigate or examine’’, accesses medical imaging using new and advanced software, postprocessing and artificial intelligence, and alrady has a partnership with multinational corporation GE Healthcare.
Regional research leader at GE Healthcare Tim O’Meara said the team was excited about the impact the technology will have on mental health.
‘‘We’ll be researching if we can pick up different forms of depression, or depression that’s a result of different pathways in the brain. We want to do this by being world-class, not improving things a little, but world-class diagnostic capabilities and treatment monitoring to Gisborne. It’s incredibly exciting for us.’’
Ma¯tai creator, Dr Samantha Holdsworth, medical physicist and senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, was working in the US five years ago when she decided to return home to Gisborne, wanting to make a difference in the community via the research institute.
Ma¯ tai was established due to $6 million from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, along with Eastland Community Trust.
Holdsworth said Gisborne was very high on the list for chronic illnesses and metabolic diseases.
‘‘We felt like we needed to provide something different, a platform for medical research using high-end technology that’s not just going to help people here, but also provide a platform to where we can inspire young people to join this kind of profession, not just primary industries.’’
Chief operating officer Leigh Potter has 20 years in radiology and shares Holdsworth’s vision.
‘‘My heart was pulled into it because I’d spent many years watching sick people walk through the front doors of the hospital and, using imaging to diagnose these illnesses, we saw many cases that could have been avoided if they had been picked up earlier. We’ve got a nice small community to be able to do this research and it will be a lot easier to manage.
‘‘But more importantly, we’re doing research in an area which needs it most.’’
Potter said some of Gisborne’s health disparities were led by it being home to ‘‘a high deprivation group’’ and ‘‘not getting access to health needs as quickly as they could in a larger centre like Auckland Hospital’’.
Potter hopes the Ma¯tai team will grow from four to nine by September.
‘‘We might have a small team, but we’ve got a lot of support from Auckland University, and we’re working with teams all over the world who want this research.
‘‘Samantha and I ended up in a position where we’ve had such a fantastic offer from two vendors who were not only offering us an MRI machine, but an onsite scientist who will build and develop our business. They’ll keep us connected nationally and globally. We’ve just ended up with something so incredible.’’
Holdsworth said ‘‘helping each other’’ came across strongly in the partnership. ‘‘GE wanted to help the community out this way too, so it came across as a hand-holding process.’’
O’Meara said there were some talented people at Ma¯ tai and
the MRI machine – worth between $2m and $3m – was on its way and would be operational in Gisborne by September.
‘‘This is a really significant investment. . . We want to see our machine used by some great minds and that’s exactly what Ma¯ tai has.
‘‘Cardiovascular disease is still a major killer in our societies, and throw in issues like obesity and pre-existing conditions, then there’re enormous opportunities for not only how one patient can be treated, but entire communities.
‘‘The equipment is only part of this, it’s the team that works with it, which gives it the ability to make a difference.’’ to get behind