Malaghan Institute Supreme winner at Wellington Gold Awards

20 June 2014

Malaghan Institute Supreme winner at Wellington Gold Awards

The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research was delighted to be named winner of the Cyber and Supreme Gold Awards on Thursday night.

Established in 1999, the annual Gold Awards are a showcase of organisational talent and capability and are a way of paying tribute to those who are building our community.

The Malaghan Institute’s Director, Professor Graham Le Gros said, “We’re humbled. This business and community recognition validates all of our hard work to find better treatments for diseases like cancer and asthma and it reinforces our role in harnessing cutting edge technology to help beat diseases sooner.”

The Cyber Gold Award recognises innovation, leadership and sustained growth in the information sector.

The Supreme Gold Award recognises overall excellence, and the Malaghan Institute is the first charity to win this award in over five years.

Professor Graham le Gros said, “We’re humbled by this accolade. We entered Cyber Gold, focused on our use of technology to accelerate our medical research, and were delighted to win that, but we never imagined we would be in the running for the Supreme Award, given the amazing achievements of so many of the finalists.

"We’ve been part of Wellington for almost fifty years and our goal has remained constant: to develop better treatments for people with diseases like cancer, asthma and allergic diseases. But these awards are not about us. Patients need better solutions, fast. That's what we're aiming for.”

“These awards are great news for Wellington and New Zealand. We have a vision to build a vibrant medical research hub for the benefit of all New Zealanders and we will continue to build new partnerships with other organisations to achieve this vision. Our determined goal is to be the Mayo Clinic of the South Pacific.”

Professor Graham Le Gros explains that medical research requires an unwavering commitment and wide community support to generate results: "This recognition is the result of many years of hard work by thousands of people. The Malaghan Institute has benefitted from the dedication of our supporters throughout New Zealand. It’s been an incredible week for our medical research, following the recent granting of $28 million by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) towards our research over the next seven years.”

The Malaghan Institute is New Zealand’s leading independent medical research institute. We are determined to improve the quality of life New Zealanders by harnessing the power of the immune system; the body’s own natural defence against disease.

“We are particularly delighted to be recognised by the Gold Awards as it helps us demonstrate to our thousands of supporters throughout New Zealand that their generosity will help us beat diseases sooner. Medical research is challenging, but thanks to the support of people and organisations throughout New Zealand this is an era of great promise for immunotherapy."

About the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research is New Zealand’s leading vaccine and immunology research institute and is based at Victoria University of Wellington’s Kelburn campus. The Institute operates independently and is a charitable trust. Researchers at the Malaghan Institute are focused on developing innovative ways to harness the strength and potency of the immune system, the body’s own natural defence against disease, to treat cancer, asthma and allergy, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

ENDS

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