Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu, the Associate Dean (Pacific) at the University of Otago, Wellington, has won the New Zealand Association of Scientists Cranwell Medal for science communication for 2020.
Dr Sika-Paotonu who's Scientific Lead for New Zealand's Rheumatic Fever and Penicillin Research Programme and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago in Wellington, is the first Pacific biomedical scentist to win the award.
She's also been awarded a 2020 Fulbright New Zealand Scholarship, which will allow her to travel to the United States to continue her research into Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease at Harvard University and the University of Oklahoma.
Dr Sika-Paotonu Photo: Otago University
