Respiratory physician Lutz Beckert considers chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management, including the prevention of COPD, the importance of smoking cessation and pulmonary rehabilitation, and the lifesaving potential of addressing treatable traits. He also discusses the logic of inhaler therapy, moving from single therapy to dual and triple therapy when indicated, as well as other aspects of management
New postdoctoral fellowship in data-driven precision health
New postdoctoral fellowship in data-driven precision health

Precision Driven Health (PDH) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) are pleased to announce that funding has been awarded to the following recipient through the PDH-HRC postdoctoral fellowship initiative.
This call for applications was about augmenting and enhancing data-driven precision health research, while increasing funding opportunities for researchers at an early stage of their careers.
2019 PDH-HRC postdoctoral fellowship recipient:
Dr Rosie Dobson, University of Auckland
Enabling self-care through personalised mHealth
24 months, $205,823
Lay summary
Health information available through patient health records or data through sensors has the potential to personalise technology-based tools as well as increase the reach of support to people at critical times.
Understanding people’s perspectives on the use of health information in this way is essential to inform how already available data could be used, new data could be collected, and how data should be presented back to individuals. This research will investigate New Zealanders’ perspectives on the use of their health information, including preferences, needs, and concerns.
The learnings will be used to build on the applicant’s previous work in the development of mHealth (mobile health) tools by informing the development of a personalised mHealth programme that uses patient health information to identify those at greatest need of intervention, delivers the intervention with few access barriers, and feeds information back to individuals and healthcare professionals in a user-friendly manner.