Royal Society of New Zealand Research Honours - University of Auckland
Six University of Auckland researchers were awarded top honours in this year’s awards list from the Royal Society of New
Zealand (RSNZ) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) at a research honours dinner in Auckland last night.
Royal Society of New Zealand Research Honours
Six University of Auckland researchers were awarded top honours in this year’s awards list from the Royal Society of New
Zealand (RSNZ) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) at a research honours dinner in Auckland last night.
They are:
Distinguished Professor Ian Reid FRSNZ (Medicine) who was awarded the Rutherford Medal for his seminal contributions to
the understanding and treatment of metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis and Paget’s Disease. This medal is the
highest honour awarded by the RSNZ and acknowledges a lifetime of significant scholarly research.
Distinguished Professor Reid was also awarded the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) Liley Medal for his
outstanding contribution to health and medical sciences in advancing treatment of the bone disorder osteoporosis.
Professor Margaret Hyland (Chemical and Materials Engineering) received the Pickering Medal for her pioneering work into
the reduction of fluoride emissions produced by aluminium smelters worldwide;
Professor Keith Petrie FRSNZ (Psychological Medicine) was awarded the Mason Durie Medal for his eminent research on
patients’ perceptions of illness, how these affect recovery, and how they can be used to improve patients’ health
outcomes;
Professor Margaret Mutu (Māori Studies) received the Pou Aronui Award for her sustained contributions to indigenous
rights and scholarship in New Zealand;
Dr Michelle Dickinson (Chemical and Materials Engineering) received the Callaghan Medal for her passion and dedication
to raising public awareness of the value of science in New Zealand, particularly with young people;
Professor Ed Mitchell (Paediatrics:Child and Youth Health) was awarded the HRC Beaven Medal for his research into
preventing cot death or sudden death infant syndrome.
University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor Professor Stuart McCutcheon says the awards demonstrate the excellence of
research being carried out at the University. “We are proud of our academics, who consistently produce outstanding
research work that attracts national and international recognition, and changes people’s lives,” he said.
Rutherford Medal winner, Distinguished Professor Ian Reid performed the first successful trial of bisphosphonates, drugs
which slow or stop the natural process that dissolves bone tissue and which now can result in a 50 percent reduction in
fracture risk in those with osteoporosis. Subsequent trials have increased their potency, requiring the drugs to be
taken only yearly or once every five years.
Professor Reid has led the development of the use of potent bisphosphonates in Paget’s disease, a chronic and
debilitating bone condition that has affected up to seven percent of older New Zealanders. Fewer than one percent of
patients treated with the potent drugs relapse after a single infusion, making this the first-line therapy for Paget’s
disease internationally.
His pioneering research has earned him numerous national and international awards.
Professor Margaret Hyland has made fundamental discoveries of the sources and mechanisms of gaseous and particulate
emissions from aluminium smelters and has developed methods to cost-effectively reduce them..
Professor Hyland and her research team developed new technologies that are now used by the aluminium industry around the
world to cost-effectively reduce gaseous and particulate emissions from aluminium smelting including fluorides.
Professor Petrie has found that how patients think about illness and their emotions has an impact on recovery and immune
function in a range of different diseases. His research crosses the boundaries of health, medicine and psychology, and
has brought the importance of patient perspectives more to the forefront in clinical medicine.
Among his findings, he has demonstrated how patients’ perceptions of a heart attack predicted recovery and return to
work better than medical indicators of illness severity. His research on how expression or suppression of emotions
influences immune function has also been widely recognised. He has recently demonstrated how a person’s positive and
negative expectations can influence drug effectiveness and side effects.
Professor Margaret Mutu is esteemed nationally and internationally for her indigenous research and work on indigenous
rights over three decades. In addition to her wide-ranging research, she has authored books, articles and book chapters
on related issues, and she has played a role in nurturing Māori research through formally and informally mentoring
emerging Māori scholars across New Zealand.
Her current work explores Māori claimants’ perspectives and experiences of Treaty of Waitangi settlements and she says
it is a huge privilege to carry out the wishes of her Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whātua elders.
Dr Dickinson’s vision is to make science more accessible for everyone, particularly those who come from low-decile
schools and rural communities. She promotes the value of science and technology to young people and tries to break down
barriers that can stop them pursuing science, engineering and technology as a career.
Among her many imaginative initiatives, her alter ego “Nanogirl” campaigns to break stereotypes about what a scientist
or engineer looks like, while her sponsorship of a new award category for girls in the national BrightSparks competition
has resulted in a five-fold increase in the number of female applicants this year compared with last.
Professor Ed Mitchell’s research has helped save 3000 New Zealand babies’ lives to date with many thousands more around
the world. He has made major contributions in other fields including asthma, childhood obesity, child health and
development, Māori and Pacific health, intrauterine growth restriction, and most recently stillbirth.
He has led groundbreaking research which has refined knowledge about the causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS,
formerly known as cot death) with the result that the number of New Zealand deaths from SIDS has dropped from 250 babies
each year some 30 years ago to a current rate of about 40 per year. His current research is focused on reducing this
figure even further to about six deaths per year.
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