Robots and New Zealand medical innovation highlighted

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Robots and New Zealand medical innovation highlighted at Beehive Dinner

Dr Catherine Mohr, a global expert on robotic surgery and other innovative health solutions, will be in New Zealand for four days as the guest of Medicines New Zealand.

While here, she will be the guest speaker at a parliamentary dinner being hosted by the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman in Wellington. She will be discussing the future of innovative healthcare including the rise of robotic surgery and personalised medicines, and her talk will include some examples of innovative medical entrepreneurship from New Zealand companies.

“It is an honour to host a world-renowned health technologies expert to engage with a wide and diverse range of groups including school students, women scientists, innovative medical companies and MPs” said the Hon Heather Roy, Medicines New Zealand Chair.

“Innovation is part of the overall healthcare landscape for optimal and beneficial outcomes, and Dr Catherine Mohr’s work encourages and supports innovation in medical science and its application to health” she added.

Dr Mohr was the first woman to be inducted into New Zealand’s HiTech hall of fame and was also honoured with the World Class New Zealand Award for raising the profile of New Zealand on the world stage.

She has spent over 20 years assessing new health tools and thinks New Zealand has a pivotal role to play in the future direction. “This is both an exciting and vibrant area of research and development. There are some great innovations coming out of New Zealand which are not only helping patients with earlier disease detection, but also less invasive medical interventions” said Dr Mohr.

“Examples include Pacific Edge Biotechnology’s bladder cancer detection test, and Aroa Biosurgery’s novel biomaterials for accelerating recovery of patients suffering from serious tissue injuries” she added.

Dr Mohr is Vice President of Medical Research at Intuitive Surgical Limited in California, where she evaluates new technologies for incorporation into the next generation of surgical robots. She is both a Consulting Assistant Professor at Stanford School of Medicine and on the Faculty at Singularity University. She serves as scientific advisor to several start-up companies in Silicon Valley as well as government technology development programs and New Zealand medical technology start-ups.

Medicines New Zealand will be co-hosting educational seminars in Wellington on Tuesday 15 September with CORE Education, Grow Wellington and Volpara Solutions, Wednesday 16 September with Victoria University and Chiasma. Auckland on Thursday 17 September with the Liggins Institute and Global Women, and Friday 18 September with the Association for Women in the Sciences and AUT.

ENDS

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