Peter Tremain awarded his PhD

Kia ora koutou, 

Please join me in congratulating the newly minted Dr Peter Tremain, who successfully defending his PhD early this morning. The examination committee has recommended that his PhD be awarded with no revisions. 

Peter originally joined us at the ABI in 2020 as a Master’s student, and then continued into a PhD supported by a UoA Doctoral Scholarship. He developed and validated custom devices for endoscopic, high-resolution mapping of the electrical activity of the stomach, including validation in a multi-centre trial. His work effectively translated our GI group’s extensive previous surgically-invasive mapping techniques into a minimally-invasive, endoscopic tool.

Peter published multiple journal papers during his PhD, including one in Device (IF 8.3). He spent time in Chile as part of his PhD, supported by the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Latin America. He also spent 12 months as a visiting PhD student in the Laboratory for Translational Engineering at MIT under the supervision of Prof Giovanni Traverso, supported by a philanthropic travel fund from the Ruby’s Voice Trust. His PhD work was recognised by numerous additional awards, including the 2024 RHT Bates Postgraduate Scholarship from the Royal Society Te Apārangi. 

Peter is currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark where he is consulting for a range of medical companies and VC funds. 

Thank you to Prof William Hasler (Mayo Clinic, AZ, USA) and Dr Jerry Zhou (Western Sydney University) who examined Peter’s thesis, and to Dr Ho-Fung Chan (ABI) and Dr Peter Smith (UoA) who served as the HoD nominee and chair, respectively. Thank you also to Peter’s co-supervisor, Dr James McKeage, Dr Jarrah Dowrick, and Prof Leo Cheng, who provided a collaborative and supportive environment for Peter to flourish. 

Congratulations, Peter! 

Nāku noa, 

Nā,

Tim