Paediatrician wins top science award

15 Nov, 2001 06:45 AM2 mins to read

By ANNE BESTON

A paediatrician who has battled for world-class medical research facilities in New Zealand has been awarded the country's top science medal.

Professor Peter Gluckman, aged 52, a former dean of Auckland University's medical school and founder of the Liggins Institute, has been awarded the Rutherford Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

The medal is regarded as New Zealand's top science prize.

Last year it was awarded to Nobel Laureate Professor Alan MacDiarmid.

Nominations for the prize are called for by the Royal Society, whose council then vote on who should receive it. The medal is not given every year.

Reflecting on the award yesterday, Professor Gluckman said he was particularly pleased because it was recognition by his peers.

"It's not given out lightly and I'm very, very delighted," he said.

The Rutherford Medal is yet another decoration in a high-profile career in medicine for Professor Gluckman.

He is one of only two paediatricians elected to the London Royal Society, an honour only 37 New Zealand-born scientists have received.

His specialist area is the study of infant intra-uterine growth retardation and infant brain injury resulting from oxygen deprivation at birth.

He has been the major force behind the newly-established Liggins Institute, which he hopes will become a world-class centre for medical research.

He is a strong advocate of the public's right to debate the huge advances being made by scientists in the bio-medical field, including genetic research, stem cell research and reproductive technology.

"We need people to focus on the advantages of these advances in a non-emotive way so the public can understand what they are. I believe we need ethical research alongside medical scientists," he said.

The Liggins Institute planned to develop a science, medicine and society programme which would look at how scientists and lay people could work together to debate the ethical, philosophical and social issues related to medicine and healthcare.