A wonderful milestone was reached this week when Chris Thoreau, our Operations Manager here at Grafton, celebrated 40 years of service to the University and since 1986, to the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

Chris’ first job after leaving school was in the cardio-thoracic unit at Green Lane Hospital, conducting lung function tests and cardiac investigations for researchers and clinicians like Brian Barratt-Boyes, David Cole and Mont Liggins. This was followed by three years in a similar role at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney before Chris returned to Auckland and took up a job in early 1972 as a Grade 1 Laboratory Technician in the Department of Biochemistry in the city campus Chemistry building. Chris enjoyed the generous starting salary of $3,084/annum.

In 1986 Chris moved to the Grafton Campus to become the Department Manager for Pharmacology and following a restructure of group managers became Finance Manager for the Faculty Support Services division. Since 2006 Chris has been the Faculty Services Operations Manager with campus-wide responsibility for infrastructure and access control. Widely recognised for her knowledge and experience around all things Grafton, Chris is a dedicated and highly valued member of the FMHS family, and I congratulate her most sincerely on achieving this marvellous milestone.

Another very familiar face to all at Grafton and one with almost as much University service as Chris Thoreau will be leaving us next week to begin a most deserved retirement. Jocelyn Bullock (left) retires next week after 38 years with the University, leaving a big hole in the ranks of the Centre for Brain Research where she has been managing the Neurological Foundation Brain Bank. Jocelyn’s skills in the area of cryo-sectioning have yet to be matched, and similarly she has few peers when it comes to tissue radiography. Jocelyn was very willing to pass her skills and knowledge on to students and younger researchers. Retirement will now give the adventurous traveller who lives in Jocelyn full rein, and we hope to receive a stream of postcards from her planned wilderness expeditions in the years ahead.

Auckland Brain Day takes place tomorrow (Saturday 17th March). It will feature neuroscientists and clinicians from the Centre for Brain Research talking about the latest research updates, as well as community groups and science demonstrations. It is the biggest event of its kind in New Zealand, costs nothing to attend and is certainly worth bringing to the attention of family, friends and colleagues who could benefit from the information that will be available.

Brain fitness is the theme for the day, and we will have exciting demonstrations, workshops and interactive sessions available. Information on the free event, venue and facilities, along with the full schedule for the day can be found here.

Brain Day is part of International Brain Awareness Week, and another event held to mark this week saw a full house of almost 400 at the Auckland Museum to see Dr Donna Addis and Associate Professor Brett Cowan use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain scans to spot which pattern of brain activity looked most like a true memory. A student was asked to recall an exciting actual event along with an imagined such event while undergoing an MRI scan. Memory and imagination actually use overlapping brain regions and so the scans from each scenario looked remarkably similar making the task of selecting the true response more difficult. In the end Dr Addis was guided to her correct choice by the increased activity in the hippocampus which organises memory. This was a fun and somewhat relevant demonstration of the capabilities of brain imaging thanks to MRI technology.

The first longitudinal report produced by the Growing Up in New Zealand team will be launched next Friday afternoon at the Fale Pasifika in Wynyard St. The launch will celebrate the preliminary set of longitudinal results for the cohort of almost 7000 children and their families, describing their early developments and environment from before birth until they are nine months old. Please contact Florence Facloner by 20 March if you would like to attend this event.

• Don’t forget the Doctoral Skills Programme Lecture which is to take place on Monday in the Seminar Room on the fifth floor of 501 from 1 – 2.00pm and which will introduce attendees to the very helpful website serving the programme. This should be of interest to all thesis writing students so please bring this to the attention of any students you think should attend.
• Good luck to the many staff and families who are taking part in the annual Round the Bays run on Sunday. Between the Rec Centre and FMHS we have over 350 runners in action on Sunday, certainly a powerful reflection of our faculty’s commitment to health and activity.

• Brain Day 2012: The annual public exposition of our neuroscience related research activity which is staged in association with the Neurological Foundation to highlight international Brain Awareness Week. The theme for this year’s Brain Day is Brain Fitness. Saturday 17 March,
  9am-4pm, Business School, Owen G Glenn Building 12 Grafton Rd.  Add to your calendar
  Full Brain Day 2012 timetable
• Tömaiora seminar: More than good intent: enhancing meaningful non-Indigenous engagement in Indigenous health. Presented by David Paul. Tuesday 20 March, 12.30-1.30pm, Room 730-220, Tāmaki Innovation Campus.  Add to your calendar
• Auckland Cancer Research Network seminar: Targeted-Based Drug Discovery in Pancreatic Cancer. Presented by Associate Professor Haiyong Han. Tuesday 20 March, 1–2pm, Lecture Theatre B41, Grafton Campus.  Add to your calendar
• Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology seminar: A B Cell Explanation for Autoimmune Disease – Or Where is the End of a Ball of String? Presented by Professor Fiona McQueen. Tuesday 13 March 3.30-4.30pm, Seminar Room 501-505, Grafton Campus.  
  Add to your calendar
• Growing Up in New Zealand: Now we are born. Presented by Doctor Russell Wills, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, Doctor Susan Morton and pre-recorded presentation by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman. Friday 23 March, 2-3.30pm, Fale Pasifika Complex, 20 Wynyard Street. 
  RSVP by 20 March to Florence Falconer.  Add to your calendar
• The Goodfellow Symposium 2012: Integrated Care – What does it mean for you?. Friday 23 March 3pm through Sunday 25 March 3.35pm, The Langham Hotel, Auckland. More information and registration.  Add to your calendar
• SOPH Head of School seminar: Our faculty: Perspectives from the new Dean. Presented by Professor John Fraser. Tuesday 27 March, 12-1pm, Room 730-220, Tāmaki Innovation Campus. Add to your calendar
• General Practice & Primary Health Care and the Goodfellow Unit seminar: Advance care planning for people with dementia in the United Kingdom: a good idea in theory but a challenge in practice. Presented by Professor Louise Robinson. Tuesday 27 March, 2.30-3.30pm, Room 730-220, Tāmaki Innovation Campus. Add to your calendar
• School of Medical Sciences special seminar: From globalisation to living economies. Presented by Dr Elisabet Sahtouris. Wednesday 28 March, 6-7.30pm, Case Room 2 (260-057), Owen G Glenn Building, City Campus. Add to your calendar