Professor Elaine Rush, MNZM, PhD has been involved in health and education for all her working career. In 2014 she was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health. Her diverse research expertise in the measurement of body composition, energy expenditure, physical activity, nutrition and risk factors for disease. An interest in ethnic differences in health and involvement in programmes and actions that will make a difference to health has across the lifecycle has led to over 150 publications. The projects she is involved in include Energize in preschools and primary schools reaching more than 60000 children, the health and growth of children whose mothers’ had gestational diabetes and the longitudinal Pacific Island Family study which is tracking over 1000 Pacific children from birth. She is scientific director of the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation.