Ngaire Kerse

Ngaire Kerse

Graduate Research Topic

Title: Health of Older People 1994 - 1997
Years: 1994 - 1998
Supervisors: Prof Doris Young and Prof Leon Flicker

What has happened in your career since you completed your GR?

After graduation is worked in several jobs for one year and then returned to my home country, Aotearoa NZ, where I accepted a Senior Lecturer position in General Practice and Primary Health Care. Since then I accepted a Harkness Fellowship to Seattle for 2002-2003 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and Professor in 2008. I have served as head of Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Head of School of Population Health and am now the Joyce Cook Chair in Ageing Well – a philanthropic inaugural chair (research only). We created the Centre for Co-Created Ageing Research last year and are hoping to change the world to be less ageist and improve the wellbeing of older people in Aotearoa NZ and around the world.

What was the best thing about your GR?

My PhD was the only time in my career when is could concentrate of one thing and one thing only, the clinical trial that I ran for those years. Since then I have managed to keep doing research even through times of high teaching load and high service load. I learnt at the University of Melbourne to value the good people around you, chose your collaborators wisely and pick people who want to have the same kind of fun as you.

What is one piece of advice you would give to current GR students?

Always ask for the best pay and don’t be afraid to ask! I was underpaid for years and had to learn this the hard way. Others will take advantage of your brilliance, so make them pay for it! And have fun in your research.