Te Whakatōhea Ngāti Pōrou

Mariana has been working as a Community Pharmacist for almost 15 years and is now exploring a kaupapa Māori Research pathway with The Centre for Health.

She brings with her an expertise from the private health sector, whānau experience as well as a passion to drive positive change for Māori in the health sector.

Mariana received a Career Development Award in 2020 form the Health Research Council of New Zealand. This has enabled her to work with members of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board to explore how Māori view healthy ageing and if technology could support them through an application known as the LifeCurve.

She has recently been awarded a 3 year Heart Foundation Māori Fellowship to work with Dr Anna Rolleston. They plan to research and develop a roadmap to strategically guide how research across Aotearoa can achieve equity in heart health.