Mātai launches Hugh Green Prostate Centre
November 2026: The Mātai Medical Research Institute has launched the Hugh Green Prostate Centre, bringing together advanced MRI-led prostate cancer diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment within a single integrated care pathway. Supported by a $1.57 million social impact investment from the Hugh Green Foundation (HGF), the initiative will establish Australasia's first MRI-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA-PRO) service for the treatment of prostate cancer.
MRI-guided prostate ablation is a minimally invasive treatment that uses ultrasound energy to precisely heat and destroy prostate cancer tissue while the patient is inside an MRI scanner. MRI is used to both guide and monitor the treatment, making sure that only the target tissue is heated to temperatures sufficient to kill the cancer.
The service will provide an additional treatment option for men whose prostate cancer has been detected early and remains localised within the prostate gland, before it has spread to nearby tissues, lymph nodes, or other parts of the body. The procedure is performed as an outpatient under general anaesthesia inside an MRI scanner and is completed as a single treatment over three to four hours, avoiding invasive surgery or several weeks of radiation therapy. Patients return home the same day, and most can resume normal activities within a few days.
Opening the Hugh Green Prostate Centre. Photo: Mātai.
Cawthron: Kiribati and New Zealand deepen ocean partnership
November 2026: Kiribati and the Cawthron Institute are expanding their bilateral partnership, opening up opportunities for safer seafood, stronger fisheries, and healthier coastal waters.
A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Kiribati's Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources (MFOR) and Cawthron was signed in Nelson on 2 November.
The partnership provides opportunities to collaborate on emerging programmes such as Pacific Blue Foods, which aims to strengthen Pacific-led aquatic food systems and support the coastal ecosystems and communities that depend on them.
Over the next five years, the organisations intend to develop this work around Kiribati's priorities, involving national and community partners where appropriate.
MFOR Permanent Secretary Riibeta Abeta said the partnership must reflect the ocean's importance to everyday life in Kiribati.
"This is about the fish on our tables and the livelihoods our waters sustain. As custodian of one of the largest oceans on the planet, Kiribati carries a profound responsibility; one centred on traditional knowledge of sustainable use of ocean resources, passed down through generations."
Cawthron Institute Chief Executive Volker Kuntzsch and Kiribati's Ministry of Fisheries and Ocean Resources Permanent Secretary Riibeta Abeta sign the MoU. Photo: Cawthron.