Building Resilience in Tamariki and Adolescents — What’s Needed?
Description
Building Resilience in Tamariki and Adolescents — What’s Needed?
What does it really take for tamariki and rangatahi to build resilience and thrive?
Join Brainwave Trust Aotearoa and Auckland University of Technology for an important conversation bringing together leading voices across neuroscience, health, child development, clinical and community practice.
Facilitated by Brainwave Trust Patron Dr Hinemoa Elder (MNZM), the panel will explore what research, experience and evidence can tell us about supporting tamariki and young people through increasingly complex social, developmental and mental health challenges.
Rather than asking children and young people simply to “be more resilient”, we’ll ask a bigger question:
What can we — as whānau, professionals, caregivers, advisors and advocates, specialists — do to create the conditions in which resilience can grow?
Panelists:
Professor Sarah Jane Paine —Professor of Māori Health and Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori (Research) at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland Former Research Director and Principal Investigator of Growing Up in New Zealand.
Doctor Jin Russell — Consultant Developmental Paediatrician at Starship Children’s Health and Clinical Chief Advisor for Child and Youth within Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health.
Doctor Mangor Pedersen — Associate Professor and Head of Psychology and Neuroscience at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Doctor Rob Thomson — Brainwave Trust Kaiako and Researcher.
Together, we’ll explore what needs to change if we are serious about creating a healthier future for tamariki and rangatahi in Aotearoa.
There will be a Q&A with the audience, led by Dr Hinemoa Elder.
Hosted by Brainwave Trust Aotearoa in partnership with AUT.
Doors open: 5.00pm
Start time: 5.30pm
Doors close: 7.30pm
Venue: WZ100C, Foyer, WZ Building, Auckland University of Technology, St Paul Street, Central Auckland
Entry: Free entry, or by donation. Early registration essential. Capacity limited. Donations to Brainwave Trust optional at registration.
Please note: This is an in-person event held at AUT campus in Auckland Central. Registered guests will be required to attend in person.
Light refreshments will be provided by Brainwave Trust. There will be a cashless bar on site for the purchase of alcoholic drinks.
Find out more about the host: brainwave.org.nz
Facilitator
Dr Hinemoa Elder — MNZM, PhD, FRANZCP, MBChB in Medicine
Hinemoa is Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Takoto and Ngāpuhi nui tonu. A Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with 20 years experience, a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists, a member of the College’s Foundation as well as the College's Planetary And Wellbeing Advisory Group. She continues to advocate for whakapapa wellbeing. Awarded the MNZM, New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Psychiatry and to Māori in 2019, a member of the NZ Human Rights Review Tribunal, Kaiārahi Oranga Hinengaro at Te Hiku Hauora and a best selling author. She is a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Resident Alumni, and a member of the Busara Circle, for the global women in STEM leadership programme, Homeward Bound. Hinemoa is committed to fostering activities, attitudes and skill building that expand how we understand and value the critical importance of human development as communities. She recognises the critical importance of access to the insights of mātauranga and clinical information from trusted sources, essential for advancing changes that ensure communities thrive; this is why she agreed to become a Patron of Brainwave Trust in 2025.
Speakers
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine (Tūhoe) — PhD in Public Health, MSc, BSc
Professor Sarah-Jane Paine (Tūhoe) is Professor of Māori Health and Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori (Research) at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and one of Aotearoa New Zealand's leading Kaupapa Māori health researchers. An internationally recognised expert in Indigenous health and wellbeing, she provides strategic leadership to advance Māori research excellence and impact across the University. Previously Research Director and Principal Investigator of Growing Up in New Zealand, she has helped shape policy and practice in maternal and child health, racism and health, and Indigenous wellbeing. Sarah-Jane received the University of Auckland Research Impact Award and Te Pae Huinga Manu Māori Research Excellence Award in 2025. Bringing expertise in epidemiology, public health and mātauranga Māori, Professor Paine’s work offers valuable insight into the conditions that help mokopuna thrive, build resilience and experience better lifelong outcomes.
Dr Jin Russell — PhD in Paediatrics, MBChB, FRACP
Dr Jin Russell is a developmental paediatrician, researcher and senior child health policy adviser with a strong focus on child wellbeing, health equity and early intervention. She is a Consultant Developmental Paediatrician at Starship Children’s Health and Clinical Chief Advisor for Child and Youth at Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health. Dr Russell completed her PhD at the University of Auckland through the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal study, examining life-course epidemiology, early childhood environments and developmental health. Her clinical and research work has highlighted the significant impact that poverty, disadvantage and wider social conditions can have on children’s health and development. Dr Russell brings a strong evidence-based perspective to understanding the factors that influence children’s wellbeing and resilience, and to how research, early intervention and public policy can work together to create the conditions for tamariki and rangatahi to thrive.
Dr Mangor Pedersen — PhD, MSc, BA
Dr Mangor Pedersen is an Associate Professor and Head of Psychology and Neuroscience at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), specialising in neuroscience, brain health and artificial intelligence. His research sits at the intersection of AI and neuroscience, with a focus on developing advanced technologies to better understand and measure human brain networks. He is AI Lead for the $60 million Australian Epilepsy Project and a researcher at AUT’s Brain Health Research Centre and Cognitive and Neuroscience Laboratory. Dr Pedersen has received numerous national and international awards for his research and brings expertise in brain development, brain health and emerging technologies to the panel. His work explores how advances in neuroscience and technology can deepen our understanding of the developing brain and help inform approaches that support wellbeing and resilience across the lifespan.
Dr Rob Thomson — PhD in Psychology
Dr Rob Thomson is a Kaiako/Facilitator and researcher with Brainwave Trust, with extensive experience in child wellbeing, family violence prevention and supporting tamariki in care. His recent research and writing has focused on child maltreatment and adolescence, bringing a strong understanding of how early experiences, adversity and relationships can shape development and wellbeing. Across his career, Rob has worked in public service, NGOs and community organisations throughout Aotearoa, including advisory roles with the Violence Information Network (VINE) and Families for Every Child, and as a member of the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee. He is also a Senior Grievance Panellist in Youth Justice residences and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago. Rob brings a valuable combination of research, frontline and policy experience to conversations about adversity, resilience and how we can better support tamariki and rangatahi to thrive.
Venue Map
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