Pūtahi Manawa welcomes the Inaugural Co-Director Pacific, Ms Soteria Ieremia

Alongside our extended community of Pacific researchers, educators, health professionals and more, Pūtahi Manawa officially welcomed our first Co-Director Pacific, Soteria Ieremia, at the beautiful Fale Pasifika, The University of Auckland. 

The significance of this role for Pacific was evident as Pacific community, health leaders, researchers, scientists, and clinicians came together to welcome Soteria and her new Pacific Leadership Team. 
We heard from Dr Allamanda Faatoese from the Christchurch Heart Institute at the University of Otago, who spoke to the Pacific Leadership Team’s vision.

“𝑻𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒆𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”

The Pacific Leadership Team includes Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islander, Tuvaluan, and Niuean researchers, health professionals, and community leaders from all over Aotearoa NZ.

Guest speaker and Samoan cardiologist Asiata Professor Dr. Satupaitea Viali made a special trip to acknowledge this appointment and the strength of Pacific women in leadership. Professor Viali introduced those present to his unique heart haka, which wasn’t the only performance of the evening. He spent the next day 

Neil Ieremia, special guest and Founder and Creative Director of internationally acclaimed dance company Black Grace, shared his story through performance art.
Diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever at the age of five, leading to Rheumatic Heart Disease, his hopes of playing sports, let alone the strenuous physical dance he has become synonymous with, were out of the question.
Black Grace treated guests to an exclusive performance that powerfully articulated Neil’s story through movement and spoken word - informed by his personal experiences and research publications on racism and lack of access to healthcare by Pacific peoples. Guests responded to the performance with a standing ovation, solidifying the importance of the work Pūtahi Manawa aims to achieve in heart health equity for Maori and Pacific peoples.

Keeping guests on their toes and smiling was the vibrant STEM powerhouse Nu’uali’i Eteroa Lafaele. Hailing from the “Creek” - Cannons Creek, Porirua, or PTown, Eteroa and Soteria share their roots and a common purpose to encourage and support Pacific youth into STEM pathways.

Soteria completes the tripartite directorship for Pūtahi Manawa Healthy Hearts Aotearoa - Centre of Research Excellence alongside Professor Dr Julian Paton and Co-Director Māori Dr Karen Brewer. 
We appreciate everyone who joined us in making this a special occasion. 
The Pūtahi Manawa aiga look forward to fostering a thriving community dedicated to heart health equity for Pacific peoples, driven by Tagata Moana and supported by our Pacific allies.