Three leading researchers have been appointed as University of Otago professors.
An Otago University medical graduate, Prof Paul Glue, has been appointed to the Hazel Buckland Chair in psychological medicine, with Prof Mark Stringer and Associate Prof Lisa Matisoo-Smith, of Auckland, appointed in the anatomy and structural biology department.
Also, Associate Prof Dorothy Oorschot has succeeded Prof David Green as head of the anatomy department.
Prof Glue recently returned to Dunedin from New York, where he was head of the New York Clinical Pharmacology and Neurosciences Group of Pfizer Inc.
After completing medical degrees, with distinction in surgery, at Otago University in 1980, Prof Glue went on to establish a distinguished research and academic career in the United Kingdom and the United States, university officials said.
Vice-chancellor Prof David Skegg said Prof Glue was a psychiatrist with "an excellent record of research in the neurosciences" and his return, after almost three decades away, was most welcome.
Prof Glue, who will be based at the department of psychological medicine, has published more than 250 research papers and book chapters.
His research interests include the pharmacology of drug treatments in psychiatry and the investigation of disease mechanisms in neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Prof Skegg said the initial intention had been to make one appointment in the anatomy department, but a second professor was also appointed there because of the "outstanding candidates" who had come forward.
Prof Stringer comes from the United Kingdom and has more than 20 years of experience in medicine and surgery.
He joined the Otago anatomy department in January 2007, after moving from the University of Leeds, where he had been professor of paediatric surgery.
Prof Stringer was excited about the possibilities for research and teaching in the Otago department.
He has edited two major text books and authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.
His research focuses on disorders of the liver and bile ducts - particularly in relation to congenital abnormalities and gallstones - as well as 3-D reconstruction in clinical anatomy.
Prof Matisoo-Smith, originally from the United States, is an associate professor at the Auckland University anthropology department.
She would lead two laboratories at Otago University: one in the anatomy department and the second, devoted to ancient DNA, in the anthropology department, university officials said.
She uses genetic evidence to track human migration and settlement and to address issues of Pacific prehistory.
She will shift to Dunedin to take up the new post next year, and will also contribute to teaching and research in anthropology.
She was awarded the Lasker Prize for the best paper in human biology for 2002.
She is also an associate editor for the journals Molecular Biology and Evolution and Human Biology.