Over the year Tu Kotahi have developed meaningful relationships with a number of passionate and committed researchers who have taken them under their wings and mentored them in the research realm.  These partnerships often extend beyond the researcher and Māori provider relationship.  For example over 20 years ago, at Kōkiri Marae, Professor Julian Crane trained Māori to become lay asthma educators in their communities.  This was a direct result of a Māori Asthma Review that was headed by Professor Eru Pomare back in the early 1990s.  One of the key recommendations from that study was that there should be ‘by Māori, for Māori’ services – this led to the establishment of the first Māori Asthma Society - Tu Kotahi. 

One of the first research studies the service participated in was in 2001 with Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and the University of Otago focusing on housing, insulation, and heating.
This study was to start a journey for Tu Kotahi and Kōkiri Marae Keriana Olsen Trust that would see Tu Kotahi working on several studies looking at inadequate housing, primarily affecting Māori, Pacific, and low-income whānau.  In those early days, Tu Kotahi’s participation involved recruiting Māori for various studies.  It was hard back then, there was a lot of distrust amongst the Māori community toward research and researchers.  Tu Kotahi soon realised that to have confidence that whānau were safe at all stages of the research process, Tu Kotahi needed to be involved at all levels of the study.

Since then Tu Kotahi has built its credibility and capacity as a research partner and changed perceptions about research within the Māori community.  Tu Kotahi has worked in partnership with the University of Otago (Wellington Campus) and Massey University (Centre for Public Health Research) on a number of HRC-funded and Ministry of Health community research studies over the past twenty or more years.  This has ensured a strong partnership with the community sector and the establishment of key relationships with Māori and Pacific communities within the wider Wellington region.   

Tu Kotahi was instrumental in developing a Kaupapa Māori framework – ‘Whānau Tuatahi’ for researchers wanting to participate in research with Māori.   (see Appendix 1 for an example of this framework).  This research framework facilitates community–researcher partnerships as a way of giving voice to the concerns whānau have about their health and the aspirations they have for their wellness.

Tu Kotahi is now involved in all aspects of the research process, some of these studies have included: 

• Oranga Waha (The Oral Health Research Priorities for Māori project) headed by Bridget Robson and the Eru Pomare Center;

• Pukapuka Hauora Asthma Study, He Kura: Asthma Support for Māori Tamariki at School, Whiti Te Rā and the Health Literacy study with Dr Tristram Ingham and Bernadette Jones;

• The C3 Cancer Research Study and the Multi Morbidity study with Diana Safati and Professor Louise Signal;

• Warm Homes for Elder New Zealanders and the Warm Hearts Study with Professor Philippa Howden Chapman, Helen Viggers, and the He Kainga Oranga research unit – University of Otago;

• the Zonnic Inhalator and Spray Study with Brent Caldwell.