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TURNING THE PAGE: A new chapter for the Centre for Brain Research Internationally respected neuroscientist Professor Hanneke Hulst is the new Director of the University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research. She succeeds Distinguished Professor Sir Richard Faull, who has led the University of Auckland's Centre for 15 years, growing into an international research hub into brain disorders and disease. Hard science and empathy combine for new CBR Director D utch neuroscientist Professor Hanneke Hulst arrived in New Zealand this month [December 2025] to lead the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research, taking up the position of David Levene Foundation Professor in Brain Research. Hanneke inherits a thriving centre of more than 500 researchers, which she hopes to guide into a new chapter of discovery and growth. At just 42, she brings remarkably broad expertise. A cognitive psychologist as well as a neuroscientist, she holds three master’s degrees and has a deep professional and personal interest in multiple sclerosis (MS) – her mother lived with the condition. Her research passion is understanding cognitive decline in MS to better support patients and their families, while her portfolio also spans advanced MRI, cognitive rehabilitation, digital screening tools, patient-centred neuropsychology and knowledge transfer, and translational work in Parkinson’s disease. “What excites me most is building on what’s already here,” Hanneke says. “The CBR has such incredible depth of expertise. Our understanding of the brain is advancing so rapidly with new technologies and the Centre is really well poised to be a big part of that future, but it’s vital that in all the excitement we retain a genuine sense of purpose, one that keeps people at the centre of it all.” 8 Headlines