We here at the STaR Centre are very fortunate to have had Sakina Bharmal recently join our team, where she is now based in the Surgical Trials Unit as a Postdoctoral Fellow.

Sakina has a background in Microbiology, having previously obtained a Bachelors and Masters degree in Science (with First Class Honours), and considers that her passion for research “comes from my innate want to learn and understand about all aspects of human health; understanding the role of microbes to taking a holistic approach to improve patient-related disease outcomes.”

Sakina has recently completed her PhD in Health Science at the University of Auckland, with the aim of  understanding and optimising the management of metabolic health of individuals with post-pancreatitis diabetes. Through this work Sakina was exposed to wide-ranging aspects of clinical trial operations, and has published 10 articles stemming from her PhD projects, and overall – rather incredibly at this stage of her research career – has authored/co-authored 30+ publications.

Sakina is looking forward to working in the STaR Centre environment as one where she can further branch out into the implementation and translational side of clinical research.

A big welcome to the team Sakina!