Message from the Director

The Surgical and Translational Research (STaR) Centre launches officially in 2020.  The Centre’s directors and investigators have a long and successful track record of focus on surgical research.  We share an urgency to translate important advances into improved outcomes for surgical patients.  Spending a little time on this website will help you appreciate the exciting range and depth of surgical research that we encompass.

The STaR motif speaks of excellence, light, direction and to Hiwa i te rangi, the wishing star, which was used in pre-European times to help local Māori recognise their hopes, dreams and aspirations. It encourages us to hold firm to our goals and seek out opportunities, see them realised and to serve a purpose greater than ourselves.

The STaR Centre draws together 4 related research platforms that are committed to collaborative, cross-disciplinary and translational research. The research platforms cover the disciplines of molecular science, engineering science, clinical science and population science.  As well as working together cohesively, we also actively collaborate with local, national and international research groups.  These deepen our science and accelerate our outcomes.

We are committed to address the inequities of surgical care for Māori, Pacific and indigenous peoples everywhere.  As a part of this commitment, we seek to develop programs for surgical research workforce development, community participation and education. It is also recognized that to get surgical advances in the hands of end-users there needs to be a commitment to commercialisation.  To that end we are working closely with the Medical Technology Centre of Research Excellence and Auckland Uniservices Ltd to advance a pipeline of medical devices and technologies.

We are keen to have you join with us in the STaR centre, whether you are a patient, researcher, clinician, company or donor. 

Professor John A. Windsor
BSc MBChB MD FRACS FACS FRCSEd FASA(Hon) FRSNZ
Director, STaR Centre, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Consultant Surgeon, Auckland District Health Board