Louise (Ngāti Maniapoto me Te Arawa) draws on Western science and mātauranga Māori research to facilitate positive ageing and equitable treatments for people living in Aotearoa New Zealand with neurodegenerative disorders. Her biomedical research focuses on understanding how brain cell activity controls movements, and how this changes in Parkinson’s disease. Her lab team and collaborators have translated this knowledge to test novel ways to treat Parkinson’s disease using light to stimulate specific brain cells. She also explores lifestyle, cultural and clinical factors that may be harnessed to modulate neuroinflammation and slow symptom progression. Louise is a Science Advisor to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which overseas public research funds in the science, innovation and technology sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has previously been the Director of the Ageing Well National Science Challenge and was a member of the Health Research Council’s Biomedical Research Committee. Her leadership effects science sector changes in Aotearoa New Zealand, and internationally she serves as the Secretary of the International Basal Ganglia Society Council.