DOCUMENT

Contact us Neurological Foundation of New Zealand PO Box 110022, Auckland Hospital Auckland 1148 Phone: 09 309 7749 Free call: 0508 BRAINS (0508 272 467) Email: admin@neurological.org.nz Website: Neurological .org.nz If you are moving, please let us know your new address so that you don’t miss the next issue of Headlines. Donor Relations Contacts Upper North Island Donor Relations Specialist Theresa Lienberg theresa.lienberg@neurological.org.nz 027 233 0710 Lower North Island Donor Relations Specialist Margie Carter margie.carter@neurological.org.nz 021 042 8114 South Island Donor Relations Specialist Kellie Bain kellie.bain@neurological.org.nz 027 478 8536 Contents 2 Message from our Chief Executive 3 Dunedin Library Poetry Competition Winner 4 Brain Plasticity: A key to the brain’s resilience against pathology? 6 What is Migraine? 7 Migraine Matters: A totally new approach to preventing and treating migraine 8 Raising Hope with the Neurological Foundation 10 Neurons in the gut are replaced every two weeks 11 Parkinson’s might begin in the gut 12 The NeuroVISION Trial 14 A farewell to our Research Manager, Dr Douglas Ormrod 15 Sneak Peek: 2020 Event Schedule Message from our Chief Executive Kia ora, We hope this edition of Headlines finds you enjoying the final weeks of 2019 with family and friends. This past year at the Foundation has been a whirlwind of change, starting with the rollout of our new brand which has been well received by current and new supporters. We’ve also had the wonderful opportunity to get to know our supporters more with a series of new events throughout the country this year. As you know from reading our recent Annual Report we were able to recommit funding for the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank and Chair of Clinical Neurology in the 2018/2019 year, which wouldn’t have been possible without your generous support. Looking to the future, we have many new things on the horizon. In this edition of Headlines, you’ll get an overview of our plans to start 2020 with a new series of events calledWomen in Science in February, before we continue with an expanded Brain Awareness Month event schedule in March, going to even more locations around the country. Additionally, we officially welcome our new Research Manager, Dr Sarah Schonberger who has taken over the reins fromDr Douglas Ormrod to ensure our Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and Personal Awards Committee (PAC) run smoothly. Sarah has recently hosted our latest round of research assessments by the SAC and PAC and we look forward to telling you all about the research you have helped to fund in our next issue. If you haven’t visited the Foundation’s website recently, you’ll be amazed by what you’ll see. We have officially launched our new website which has more in-depth information on current research being funded, ways to donate and upcoming event and educational series. We’ll also be launching an email newsletter to all our supporters which will have exciting news from the Foundation, information about upcoming events, and updates from researchers. Sign up today to receive this newsletter at neurological.org.nz. And lastly, the Foundation wouldn’t be able to fund the ground- breaking research we do without your support. This year we’ve put together a beautiful video from some key researchers who have been inspired and touched by your generous support. Without you, their research and careers wouldn’t have been possible, and they want to say thank you to you. Please visit neurological.org.nz/thank-you to hear their words of gratitude. Thank you to all our members and supporters this year for the impact you’ve made for the Foundation - your generosity never stops surprising us, and we are so grateful to have you as a supporter. Wishing you and your families a safe and relaxing Christmas, and I look forward to meeting some of you at our events in 2020. Mā te wā Rich Easton, CEO 2 Headlines