Above: Senior research fellow at Mātai Medical Research Institute Dr Oka Sanerivi with wife Deborah and children Aniva (9), Fetu’umoana (1), Lagimalie (7) and Manaia (5).
Dr Oka Sanerivi awarded Tāwhia te Mana Future Leader Fellowship
Dr Sanerivi was awarded a prestigious Tāwhia te Mana Future Leader Fellowship by Royal Society Te Apārangi. For the Fellowship, Dr Oka Sanerivi will explore how Māori and Pacific men view and understand their health and their bodies. The research will focus on prostate cancer – the most common cancer affecting men in Aotearoa New Zealand. Māori and Pacific men experience relatively high mortality from prostate cancer, despite similar diagnosis rates to other groups. Dr Sanerivi will ask participants about disease awareness, diagnoses, access to culturally appropriate healthcare, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Early detection of, and intervention in, prostate cancer is associated with improved patient outcomes, and means that less-intensive treatment is required, reducing health expenditure. This research will ensure that the experiences of Māori and Pacific men are understood, and enable co-design of a tailored health service to provide culturally informed diagnosis and care for men affected by prostate cancer.
Oka practiced as a Physiotherapist for over a decade and prior to commencing his PhD, he was the Head of the Physiotherapy Department at Gisborne Hospital. In doing so, he became the first Pasifika Physiotherapist to hold such a role in the country. Oka’s doctoral research explored the translation of Samoan cultural knowledge into clinical guidance and culturally safe health service delivery. This doctoral study was funded by HRC’s Pacific Clinical Research Training Fellowship and purposefully employed Pacific research methods and worldviews. In graduating in May, Oka became the first Pacific person to be awarded a PhD in Physiotherapy in Aotearoa New Zealand. Oka’s growing governance experience includes being elected as the Chair of the Pacific Islanders Community Trust Gisborne, Executive Committee member for Physiotherapy New Zealand, the New Zealand delegate to the World Physiotherapy Congress and General Meeting 2023 in Dubai; and the Deputy-Chair of the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand.