This page has all the news from the NZ Brain Research Institute in Canterbury, New Zealand Welcome to the NZ Brain Research Institute.
We are an independent Institute in Christchurch, NZ, working on finding the answers to the complex questions surrounding conditions affecting the brain. We work collaboratively with the Universities of Canterbury and Otago, the Canterbury District Health Board and others, to run high quality research and offer research opportunities to both emerging and established researchers from all over the world
02/04/2026
April is Parkinson's awareness month, a time to reflect on the disorder that affects ~14,000 New Zealanders and is central to many of our research activities.
We are please to see that the Christchurch City Council is again taking part in the 'Spark the Night' campaign where, on April 11th, landmarks and buildings around the world are illuminated with blue light in solidarity with those affected by Parkinson's. Check the link below for locations across New Zealand.
We know that the food we eat is important for many aspects of our health and brain health is no different. These are some foods that help maintain brain health at all ages and stages.
25/03/2026
A core strength of NZP3 is the early adoption of advanced neuroimaging techniques. We began by using MRI to characterize structural and functional changes linked to Parkinson’s cognitive decline, eventually utilizing longitudinal tracking to monitor these changes over time. As New Zealand’s PET research pioneers, we expanded our scope to investigate brain metabolism and protein accumulation. Today, we integrate MRI, PET, and EEG data into sophisticated models to predict cognitive health. As a leader in Parkinson’s neuroimaging, NZP3 advances our understanding of cognitive brain changes and plays a key role in international groups, specifically the ENIGMA-PD consortium.
17/03/2026
Did you know..........That NZ Parkinson's Disease Progression Programme (NZP3) is NZBRI Flagship Project! NZP3 is a longitudinal (18-years) convenience cohort recruited from local neurology outpatient clinics in Christchurch. Within NZP3, participants are followed at regular intervals (~2-yearly) with comprehensive neuropsychological testing, movement assessment, symptomatic questionnaires covering a range of non-motor symptoms with a focus on neuropsychiatric symptoms, and brain imaging. The assessments include input from significant others. Since inception, we have collected data from 489 people with Parkinson’s and 108 control participants. Check out our website for more information!
09/03/2026
Kia ora!
I am Julie Vidal, a brand-new postdoctoral student from France! I obtained a grant 6 months ago from France Recherche Alzheimer to create a collaboration between France and New Zealand, under the supervision of John Dalrymple Alford at the NZBRI, so here I am!
My background is primarily focused on biology. I have a PhD in Neuropsychological and clinical neuroscience from Toulouse, but I am actually not so secretly passionate about neuroimaging, statistical processing and I love coding. So, during my PhD I followed different additional classes on this matter and even had the opportunity to leave for several months for Boston in USA and to develop my own preprocessing MRI software. Then I came back home and applied this knowledge on my real PhD focus: thalamic stroke!
My PhD focused on the thalamus, first aiming to segment its subnuclei on clinical routine MRI, and second, to identify the consequences of their impairments after a stroke and highlight their actual cognitive function. I also tried to understand why some thalamic stroke patients can have huge deficits such as amnesia, visual cecity, aphasia, while some others didn't even notice they previously had a thalamic stroke. Spoiler alert! The location of this stroke inside the thalamus matters a lot but tracts too! Finally, I studied the interthalamic adhesion, a mysterious small structure connecting both thalami but only in 80% of the population, mostly women. I developed an MRI protocol to identify it and tried to understand its possible function in cognition: there are no brain structures for decorative purposes! I also created an international thalamic subgroup (TANGO IA) for its study and I actively train different international groups to locate and characterize it.
Then the post-doctoral time came. I met John during my PhD in a congress in Spain and fell in love with the mountains in the background of his presentation on the... thalamus! So we decided to apply for different grants together, and obtained this grant, allowing me to come to Aotearoa! I have been hired to apply my knowledge on the thalamus in the Alzheimer's and Parkinson's field on local data but also on data acquired in France. I will then work part time here, part time back in France for still one year and a half.
I arrived 4 months ago and I already learnt a lot on those pathologies. I am currently wrapping up a paper on amyloid-PET and Alzheimer's disease through the lens of the thalamus. That's fascinating and I have still so much to learn: how could amyloid biomarker be the most relevant biomarker to study AD while it is also highly present in cognitively normal subjects? I also already had the opportunity to meet our colleagues from Auckland, including Reece Roberts, Ian Kirk, Santiago Mezzano, Catherine Morgan, and almost Lynette Tippett, with an open-minded workshop on neural dynamics from Mac Shine. I am now learning to process diffusion imaging with Santiago and I am very happy to add this new tool to my toolbox.
In the next few months, I aim to finish this first paper and then acquire all my datasets to compare thalamic involvement in both AD and PD. I also have a poster accepted to the OHBM congress in Bordeaux in June, a good occasion to go back in France! But I'll come back!
I am very grateful to be here, work with wonderful colleagues, explore your beautiful country in a van and learn so much from you.
02/03/2026
Kia ora, I’m Briar McKenzie, a dietitian and visiting research fellow at NZBRI. My research focuses on how diet influences brain health — both in reducing disease risk and in supporting quality of life for people living with neurological conditions.
Originally from Ōtautahi Christchurch, I recently returned from Sydney, where I am a Senior Research Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health. My PhD (awarded in 2022) examined s*x and gender considerations in the relationship between diet and cardiometabolic disease, highlighting important implications for food policy. Part of this work explored how diet relates to dementia risk, which led to my postdoctoral fellowship, funded by the National Heart Foundation of Australia, investigating links between diet and vascular brain health.
Alongside my work in diet and brain health, I also contribute to and lead research on food policy and non-communicable disease policy impact evaluation in the Pacific region — two areas that I am currently working to bring together!
During my time at NZBRI, I am examining diet quality within the New Zealand Parkinson’s environment and genes study (NZPEGS), looking at what people are eating, what this means for overall health and wellbeing, and how dietary patterns relate to the specific nutritional needs of people living with Parkinson’s disease. I look forward to sharing findings soon.
Although my time at NZBRI is brief, I’m thoroughly enjoying meeting and learning from the team, and I’m very grateful to all NZPEGS participants and the investigator team for the opportunity to work with these valuable data.
21/12/2025
Earlier this month we celebrated the near 40 year career of Prof. Richard Jones.
Richard's research was in the field of biomedical and neural engineering. Richard was champion of collaboration, holding roles across NZBRI, University of Otago, University of Canterbury, and Te Whatu Ora, bringing together the expertise needed to get the project done.
Enjoy the quieter days, Richard!
04/12/2025
And this one!
We are proud to host the Christchurch Dementia Prevention Clinic - part of a network of clinics with Auckland and Dunedin, aiming to advance dementia research in New Zealand.
Congratulations Lynette and Campbell and the wider DPRC teams across all sites!
Neurological Foundation of NZ
03/12/2025
We are stoked that our Dr Campbell Le Heron is apart of this team.
Congratulations Erin, Joanna, and Campbell!
And Thank you to the Neurological Foundation of NZ for making this funding available.
Celebrating inaugural Neurological Foundation Programme funding Part 1: $𝟵𝟵𝟴𝗞 granted for 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝘇𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗭𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Dr Erin Cawston, Auckland; Associate Professor Joanna Williams, Dunedin; and Dr Campbell Le Heron, Christchurch.
This programme aims to make Alzheimer’s diagnosis faster, simpler, and more accurate through a blood test. Using the Dementia Prevention Research Clinic networks, it seeks to improve early diagnosis, disease monitoring, and access to therapies. The research prioritises Māori perspectives and tikanga. It provides a training ground for emerging scientists and clinicians, while contributing to a fairer and more effective dementia care system in New Zealand.
Great news, looking forward to having Elnathan with us over the summer!
Can early behavioural changes signal future dementia in Parkinson's patients? Elnathan Chung from the University of Otago, Christchurch, will use a $9000 summer studentship to investigate. He’s supervised by Dr Campbell Le Heron.
This is an exciting development in Huntington's disease treatment.
Huntington’s disease, a devastating degenerative illness that runs in families, has been treated successfully for the first time in a breakthrough gene therapy trial
21/09/2025
September is Alzheimer's Awareness month and yesterday (21st) was World Alzheimer's Day!
Here are some tips from the Alzheimer's Association on how to keep your brain healthy.
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Welcome to the New Zealand Brain Research Institute. We are the only independent brain research institute in New Zealand and we’re working on finding the answers to the complex questions surrounding conditions affecting the brain. We work collaboratively with the Universities of Canterbury and Otago, the Canterbury District Health Board and others, to run high quality research and offer research opportunities to both emerging and established researchers from all over the world.
Based in Christchurch, the New Zealand Brain Research Institute improves brain-health through research, education and best clinical practice. Our work includes:
Research into the effects and treatments for New Zealand’s most common brain disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and multiple sclerosis;
Fostering promising, young, graduate students to train as researchers;
Hosting neurology clinics for movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s, as well as for cognitive problems (e.g. dementia and mild cognitive impairment); and
Educating the wider community about brain-health and research outcomes.
The New Zealand Brain Research Institute relies solely on research grants, fundraising and donations. For more information about our work or how to support us contact us at
