Principal Investigators

Honorary Senior Research Fellow

René is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Matai. He grew up in Gisborne before moving to Wellington to study for a Bachelor’s and Honours Degree in Biomedical Science at Victoria University, and went on to complete his PhD in Immunology at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research.

After completing a postdoc at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the Netherlands, René set up and managed the flow cytometry core facility at the LUMC. He then transitioned into industry to develop cell and antibody therapies with Charles River Labs, first on-site in Leiden, then remotely as a consultant while cycling around the world with his wife.

René is now back in Gisborne and has started a scientific consulting service. For Mātai, this means developing the institute’s molecular biology and biomarker capabilities. He will be collaborating across all research groups within Matai to help them understand and investigate the molecular biomarkers that may be important for their research programmes.