Enthusiastic people with a positive approach to life
Welcome to u3a Takapuna.
We are very glad you have found us and we hope you enjoy exploring what our community has to offer.
Currently we are unable to accept new members because of the size of our monthly meeting venue, but please do explore this website. If you put in an application, we will be very pleased to add you to our waiting list and we will contact you as soon as a space becomes available.
Once you are on our waiting list, you are welcome to attend ONE of our monthly meetings as a Visitor.
Our next Monthly Meeting is:
Wednesday 5 August 2026: 9.45am.
Kings Lounge, Eventfinda Stadium, Wairau Valley.
Click for access information
Our Guest Speaker - Dr Rod Ellis-Pegler MNZM,FRACP
Retroviruses ancient and modern and the evolution of HIV/AIDS
Rod Ellis-Pegler is a New Zealand medical specialist born in Otahuhu in 1941. Educated at King’s College and the University of Otago, he graduated MBChB in 1965 before undertaking early postgraduate training at Auckland Hospital.
Between 1970 and 1974, he worked in London as a Wellcome Research Fellow at St George’s Hospital - including a posting in Jamaica, and earned his DTM&H. He returned home to New Zealand in 1975, serving as an Infectious Diseases Unit Physician until 2006. His international expertise includes time at Denver General Hospital and a 1990 Fellowship from the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
From 1995 to 2006, Rod was an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland. He was appointed MNZM in 2006 for his services to medicine, later consulting for Auckland Clinical Research Ltd from 2007 to 2020. He has served on multiple committees and published over 150 scientific papers
Rod’s Hospital position in 1981-1983 immediately brought him face to face with the spreading retroviral HIV pandemic and the clinical care of those infected.
Arising out of all this came the need to understand retroviruses and their history, and he speaks of them this morning. As well, he discusses the origins of this pandemic, the amazing preservation of retroviral components over millions of years in mammalian placentation and the retroviral role in today’s iconic but illness threatened koala.
Our Study Groups
u3a Takapuna offers lifelong learning in an informal way. Our members are in the ‘third age’ of life – having finished working full-time or raising a family, we have time to pursue our interests, or try something new. We thrive on educational, recreational and social activities. Groups meet fortnightly or monthly. There are no qualification requirements – and no exams!
