Alumni Spotlight: Dr Helen Murray Neuroscientist

Helen Murray attended Howick College, completing her Year 13 in 2008 before embarking on an academic path that would take her to the forefront of neuroscience research. She went on to study a Bachelor of Science specialising in Biomedical Science and Neuroscience at the University of Auckland, graduating with First Class Honours in 2012. She then completed her Doctorate in 2017, focusing on neuroanatomy and investigating plasticity in the human Alzheimer's Disease brain.

Today, Helen holds dual Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships with Brain Research New Zealand and the University of Auckland, and collaborates with the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland — one of the world's foremost biomedical research institutions. Her current research focuses on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative condition associated with repetitive head injury in sport, an area where her scientific expertise and personal experience converge in a uniquely powerful way.

That personal experience comes from a distinguished sporting career as a New Zealand representative in ice hockey. Helen has played for the New Zealand Ice Fernz since 2013 and captained the team from 2016 to 2020. Now based permanently in New Zealand, she is establishing a dedicated research programme into CTE pathology — work that draws directly on both her lived experience as an elite athlete and her deep expertise in human neuropathology research. It is a combination that holds profound implications for sport, health and the wellbeing of athletes at every level.