Rate My Professor Andree Pearson

Dr Andree Pearson is a Research Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, affiliated with the Christchurch Heart Institute and the Centre for Redox Biology and Medicine. She earned an MSc with Honours from the University of Canterbury and a PhD in Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Auckland in 2004, with a thesis titled 'Transcriptional mechanisms of nerve cell regeneration and survival'. Her early career focused on neuroscience, producing influential publications such as 'Increased cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the adult human Huntington's disease brain' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2003) and 'ATF3 enhances c-Jun-mediated neurite sprouting' (Molecular Brain Research, 2003).

Dr Pearson's research specializations include free radical biology, oxidative and mitochondrial stress biomarkers, and peroxiredoxins, with applications to aging and cardiovascular disease. She employs techniques like the Seahorse XF Analyser to measure mitochondrial dysfunction and investigates hydrogen peroxide dynamics in blood cells. In recent years, her work has emphasized heart health equity for Māori and Pacific peoples, serving as principal investigator for the co-designed Hauora Manawa mō ngā Kaumātua me ngā Whānau study, which conducts marae-based clinics using cardiac biomarkers and echocardiography to assess heart structure and function in older Māori. She also leads the Canterbury component of a biomarker screening project involving 900 Māori and Pacific participants to address underdiagnosis of heart failure due to European-derived thresholds. Dr Pearson has received significant National Heart Foundation funding, including a Research Fellowship ($300,392), a Project Grant ($107,616) for proBNP assessment in Māori and Pacific peoples, and a Small Project Grant ($20,000). Notable publications include 'Biomarkers of oxidative and mitochondrial stress are associated with accelerated pace of aging at midlife in a birth cohort' (Journals of Gerontology Series A, 2025), 'Lower NT-proBNP plasma concentrations in Pacific peoples with heart failure' (ESC Heart Failure, 2025), and 'Peroxiredoxin 2 oxidation reveals hydrogen peroxide generation within erythrocytes during high-dose vitamin C administration' (Redox Biology, 2021). Her contributions advance equitable diagnostics and community-engaged cardiovascular research.