Sir Richard Faull

With a research career spanning over 35 years, Sir Richard Faull ONZM, KNZM is recognised internationally as a leading expert on the workings of the human brain and the neurodegenerative diseases that can affect it, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.

In 2007, his research group provided the first evidence that the diseased human brain can repair itself by the generation of new brain cells, overturning the long-held view that the adult brain can only degenerate.

He is also the founder of the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank at the University of Auckland.

Sir Richard’s contributions to neuroscience have been recognized numerous times. In 1993, the University of Auckland awarded him a Personal Chair in Anatomy. In 2002, he was awarded the Inaugural Peter Gluckman Medal and Distinguished Faculty International Lecturer at the University of Auckland. In 2005 he was awarded the Liley Medal by the Health Research Council and in 2007, New Zealand’s top science honour, the Rutherford Medal.