THE TVATI STORY

Dr Matheson's interest was sparked when he ran into a good friend, from the Cook Islands, in Sydney after he had just been discharged from hospital. He had been lucky not to lose his foot, but had been advised that he would not regain function well enough to run again. He said his plan was to go home and "get some Maori medicine on the injury as soon as possible". Three months later, Dr Matheson was playing soccer with him and not long after that they were playing rugby. That sparked his curiosity and Dr Matheson's journey begun.

Dr Matheson's interest was sparked when he ran into a good friend, from the Cook Islands, in Sydney after he had just been discharged from hospital. He had been lucky not to lose his foot, but had been advised that he would not regain function well enough to run again. He said his plan was to go home and "get some Maori medicine on the injury as soon as possible". Three months later, Dr Matheson was playing soccer with him and not long after that they were playing rugby. That sparked his curiosity and Dr Matheson's journey begun.

Dr Matheson was awarded a PhD in Medicine from the University of New South Wales for his research at the Surgical and Medical Research Laboratory in Sydney, Australia. With the support of the Koutu Nui of the Cook Islands as partners, Te Vairakau Ati was made available to the global community under the guidelines and worlds best practice based on the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biodiversity.

The Cook Islands is a small island state in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean with a rich history of traditional knowledge including medicinal plants that were integral to the lives of our ancestors. Te Vairakau Ati is used in the Cook Islands today as it has been for centuries.

Tvati is grown, harvested, processed and packed in the Cook Islands all thanks to the ongoing support of the Cook Islands community and the financial support provided by the United Nations grants.

THE TVATI TEAM

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Professor Bill Walsh

Co-writer and supervising
professor of bone healing PHD

Professor Bill Walsh is a Full Professor and Director of the Surgical & Orthopaedic Research Laboratories. He was awarded a Biomedical/Medical Engineering PhD in 1990 from Rutgers in New Jersey then went to Brown university and became the assistant Professor in the Medical and Engineering faculty. In 1993 Prof.Walsh moved to Australia and built the SORL facility at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

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Dr Graham Matheson

B.SC(Med) MBBS ME(Biomed) PHD

Dr Matheson is a medical doctor, researcher and founder of the Cook Islands Medical Research and Development Group and TVATI. He has represented the Cook Islands in Athletics, Touch Football and Rugby Union. Growing up in the Cook Islands he was aware of Traditional Maori Medicine, and was aware of teammates in the national side having remarkable recoveries from fractures using Te Vairakau Ati.