Steve Hodgkinson

Business and Innovation Manager
PhD, MBA, Cert. in Corporate Governance (Institute of Directors NZ Inc.)

Contact details
Phone: +64 9 923 2133
Email:s.hodgkinson@auckland.ac.nz
 

Research interests and areas of activity

• Application of bioactive products to human health
• Business development in the New Zealand science sector
• Research management and business development in science-based organisations
• Integrating synergies across food, agriculture and health sectors to achieve economic gain through developing innovative, value-added health products

Dr Hodgkinson was initially a biomedical research scientist specialising in mammalian growth and development. He has a varied background in biomedical, animal and plant research and business development in the NZ science sector. He has worked at NZ Crown Research Institutes: AgResearch (15 years, including National Science Leader – Growth and Meat Science) and HortResearch (Bioactives Portfolio Manager).

Dr Hodgkinson has specialist skills in protein chemistry, immunology and experimental biology. His PhD (Paediatrics, University of Auckland) research examined mechanisms by which the IGF binding proteins mediate the roles of growth hormone and the IGFs in mammalian growth and development.

As his career transitioned from active scientist to science manager, Dr Hodgkinson undertook management training including an MBA (with Distinction, 1996) at the University of Waikato.

In 2002 he established a private research consultancy and natural product development company – Mille BioSciences Ltd (MBS). MBS successfully partnered with industry-leading companies in the animal genetics and dairy bioactives areas and undertook proof of concept research for new technology based products. These resulted in new IP which was subsequently devolved to partners.

More recently he has focused on research management and business development in large science based organisations. In addition to his business development/innovation role at the Liggins Institute, he has managed research for The National Research Centre for Growth and Development, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, and been Operations Manager for Epi Gen - an international research consortium which is a global leader in developmental epigenetic research and its commercialization.

Through his research and consulting activities Dr Hodgkinson has developed wide national and international networks in the broader biological sciences area.
 

• 77 refereed publications
• 4 patents
• 112 significant publications not included in the above

“Food, agriculture and human health are the mainstays of NZ’s biological economy. My major research interest is in the integration of latent synergies across these spheres in delivering on this country’s potential for increased prosperity from innovative new high added value products for health related applications.”