Research For Life (RFL) Board member and Immediate Past Chairman, Professor John Nacey has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday
Honours 2020, being made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM).
Research For Life’s current chairman Dr Lance Lawler said, “Research For Life has benefited hugely from having John
involved as a board member and chairman; this honour is both welcome and well-deserved.”
Professor Nacey led the RFL board from 2000, when it was known as the Wellington Medical Research Foundation, until
November 2018. He continues to serve as a board member.
Professor Nacey graduated from the University of Otago in 1977. After completing specialist training in urology, which
included an appointment as Chief Resident in Surgery at the Flinders University Medical Centre, he returned to New
Zealand to take up a joint hospital/university position in Wellington. In 1998 he was appointed Dean and Head of Campus
at the University of Otago’s Wellington School of Medicine, a position he held for 10 years.
With a special interest in prostate disease, Professor Nacey is an internationally recognised medical researcher and has
published extensively on this subject. He acts as referee for several major international journals. As past examiner for
the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, he has maintained his interest in teaching undergraduate medical students
and postgraduate surgical trainees. Professor Nacey currently holds the position of Professor of Urology at the
Wellington School of Medicine.
He is a strong advocate for promoting men’s health and chaired the New Zealand Government Taskforce on prostate cancer.
Established in 1960, RFL funds innovative quality research undertaken by researchers in the early stages of their
careers who, through their work, will advance the quality of healthcare in the Wellington region and beyond.
ENDS