Cure Kids On Sir Bob Elliott's Passing

Frances Benge, Cure Kids CEO

Last night, New Zealand lost a shining bright light in child health research with the passing of Sir Bob Elliott, the founder of Cure Kids. The Cure Kids team is deeply saddened by his passing and our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to Sir Bob’s family, as well as those he inspired through his life’s work.

Almost 50 years ago, Professor Sir Bob Elliot co-founded the Child Health Research Foundation with Dr Ron Caughey, which is now Cure Kids, having the foresight to know that unless we started investing specifically in child health research, New Zealand would drop further down the OECD health rankings.

Sir Bob was a firm believer that imagination was the key to a successful career in medical research. He dedicated over 60 years of his life to improving the quality of life for our littlest people and was extremely proud of the impact he made on our most vulnerable children.

For two consecutive years, Sir Bob was a finalist in the Senior New Zealander of the Year Awards. In 2020, he proudly received his Knighthood for medical research, which included ground-breaking research into cystic fibrosis, which has increased the life expectancy of people with the illness from 7 to 10 years to more than 40 years.

Sir Bob’s legacy will continue to shine through Cure Kids’ work. He took great pride in knowing Cure Kids would continue to fund top-grade research for children’s health long after he was, in his own words, “pushing up daisies”. Cure Kids will continue to hold this precious mantle in our hands.

Reflecting with the Cure Kids team recently, Sir Bob said: “My best achievement lies in founding with Ron Caughey and Rotary the charity now known as Cure Kids, which is a vibrant organisation, bringing health and vitality to children both in New Zealand and around the world, and I’m very, very proud of that.”

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