International award for up-and-coming Indigenous cancer researcher
Dr Kendall Stevenson has received the Emerging Researcher award at the World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2024.
Dr Stevenson (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāpuhi) is a Senior Research Fellow at Te Tātai Hauora o Hine—National Centre for Women's Health Research Aotearoa and has a research focus on wellbeing for wāhine, pēpi Māori, and whānau with a Kaupapa Māori lens.
Dr Stevenson has contributed her expertise in Kaupapa Māori and qualitative research towards a body of work aiming to eliminate cervical cancer amongst wāhine Māori through improved screening in Aotearoa, which has helped inform the new HPV screening programme in Aotearoa New Zealand.
She says she feels very humbled and honoured to receive the Emerging Researcher Award this year—and that her success is not hers alone.
"I accept this award only on behalf of every wāhine and whānau who shared their experiences and stories with me—If not for them, we would not be in a position to work towards eliminating cervical cancer in Aotearoa. Nā rātou te pū o tēnei mahi, koia te pū o tēnei ao.”
The Emerging Researcher Award is aimed at researchers in the field of cancer as it relates to Indigenous peoples. The award is given to a researcher who is paving the way to reduce the burden of cancer among Indigenous populations around the world. The winner must demonstrate that they are emerging as a leading researcher in this field and their research has begun to make an impact in improving outcomes for Indigenous populations with cancer.
Professor Bev Lawton, Director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, says that this award is a fantastic recognition of Dr Stevenson's mana and her work.
“This is an award for Kendall that highlights the impact of her mahi and ways of researching with whānau to bring about necessary change, not just here in Aotearoa, but with other Indigenous groups around the world too. We are very proud.”
Dr Stevenson's research also focuses on other areas of Indigenous health. Her PhD explored wāhine and whānau experiences following the harm or loss of their baby, informing a research project assessing whether a culturally responsive Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) model of care is acceptable to whānau and can be implemented across Aotearoa.
The World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2024 took place 18-20 March 2024, in Melbourne, Australia.