Top scientist Suresh Muthukumaraswamy has returned to New Zealand to continue his ground-breaking research into treatments for depression.
The move was made possible after Muthukumaraswamy (Hall House 1992-96) was awarded one of the country’s top science prizes, a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, from the Royal Society of New Zealand.
After nine years working overseas, Muthukumaraswamy, 36, now works as a neurobiologist at the University of Auckland.
This year Muthukumaraswamy received recognition after his research into the antidepressant drug Ketamine featured in the influential medical publication the Journal of Neuroscience.
The findings of the Ketamine study, which were widely reported in New Zealand media, are considered important in finding new ways of effectively and quickly treating depression.
“It is really about developing ways that we can measure drug action in the central nervous system,” Muthukumaraswamy explains.
“Most of the time when a psychiatrist gives a patient a drug, we have not had a way to measure what is going on and why they may be getting better. We can see people’s symptoms, but we can’t actually look inside, so that is obviously a limitation.”
“So what we have found when we give volunteers Ketamine, which is an experimental antidepressant, we have developed some computational approaches, combined with brain imaging, so that we can actually measure what Ketamine is doing in the brain.”
The technique used was magnetoencephalography (MEG), measuring the brain’s magnetic fields in combination with computer modelling.
Muthukumaraswamy says brain imaging technology allows doctors and scientists to take a peek inside the brain, in ways not possible before. “There is a lot of work being done to try and improve our ability to look inside the brain. There are a lot of people in a lot of different places putting the puzzle together.”
Muthukumaraswamy spent nine years in Wales, where he worked at the newly established Cardiff University Brain Imaging Centre as a research associate and later a research fellow.
The centre is regarded as one of the top brain research institutes in Europe.
He went there for further study after finishing his degree in Auckland in 2005, where he graduated with a PhD with honours in psychology in 2005. He was the recipient of a Bright Futures Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship.
It was in Cardiff where Muthukumaraswamy met his wife, Dina, from Kazakhstan, a PhD student. They have two young sons, Altai 3, and baby Arman and live in Mt Eden, Auckland.
Muthukumaraswamy’s older brother Carl (Shiva) Muthukumaraswamy (Hall House 1990-1993) also lives in Auckland and is a surgeon at Auckland City Hospital. Their parents live in Hamilton. Suresh attended Hamilton West School and Southwell before arriving at St Paul’s.
He fitted in well to life in Wales. “I enjoyed living there. It is more relaxed than living in London.”
“I left New Zealand with a lot of sheep and about four million people and a lot of greenery, to another country with a lot of sheep, about four million people, and a love of rugby.”
Muthukumaraswamy has enjoyed following the fortunes of Wales, his “second team” at the recent Rugby World Cup.
When Muthukumaraswamy left St Paul’s he was unsure of what he wanted to do and having taken mainly Arts subjects at school, he enrolled in a law degree at the University of Auckland.
Taking a psychology paper in his second year sparked an interest in the human brain. His studies changed tack and he was drawn to subjects with more of a science focus. The change meant it took an extra year to finish his degree.
“It was probably an initial fascination with the complexity of the brain and what it is doing. The things the brain is required to do to get you through everyday life are actually remarkably complex” he says on his attraction to studying science.
“Things like vision and identifying things are tremendously complex and the brain achieves these things seemingly effortlessly. So there is something going on there that makes that happen and I guess that is what keeps me interested.”
He is also motivated by helping others.
“When someone gets unwell, and it is a brain disorder, it is really when those seemingly simple things, those effortless things, break down. So understanding a healthy brain can help us understand an unhealthy brain.”
While his work and young family keep him busy these days, outside work Muthukumaraswamy has been a keen “middle of the pack” triathlete, having competed in two Ironman events, one in the UK and one in New Zealand.
He also enjoys running and rock climbing.
Muthukumaraswamy is very grateful for the Fellowship which has given him the opportunity to continue the work he did overseas.
“I was in the UK and decided I wanted to come back, so I applied for a Rutherford Fellowship and that was successful and allowed me to come back and work at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Auckland University.”
“It is a really good scheme for mid-level career scientists to get them back to New Zealand.”
The Rutherford Discovery Fellowships provide emerging scientific leaders with a funding package of $800,000 over five years which allow them to undertake research.
Muthukumaraswamy hopes to continue on his current career path, which includes some teaching and supervision in the University’s Schools of Pharmacy and Psychology. He is also a member of the University’s Centre for Brain Research.
“I guess I am relatively young. Thirty-six is young for a scientist; we are not like sports people when you are 36 you have to seriously think about retiring. When you are 36 and a scientist you are really just getting started.”
Muthukumaraswamy says the field has experienced and is still experiencing massive advancements. “The technology has been there 20 years now, but every couple of years there are new advancements and abilities to do things.”
“I am really just settling into my position in Auckland so hopefully I will have a long and productive career in trying to investigate the brain and trying to figure out how to use science to help people who have problems.”
