2008

Professor Garth Cooper is one of New Zealand’s foremost biological scientists and biotechnology entrepreneurs.

His research has led to major advances in the understanding of disease mechanisms in diabetes and related syndromes, which in turn have led to the discovery of new therapies. He is the Professor in Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Auckland, Director and Professor of Discovery and Experimental Medicine at the University of Manchester, as well as visiting Professor of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Oxford and of Pharmacy & Pharmacology at the University of Hong Kong.

In addition, he is an expert at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine & Health. In New Zealand, Garth has served numerous scientific organisations, including the New Zealand Government’s Biotechnology Taskforce and the Māori Health Committee, among others. He is also Chair and founding member of the Sustainability Council of New Zealand.  In 2003, Professor Garth Cooper was named North and South New Zealander of the Year and in 2005 as NZ BIO’s inaugural Biotechnologist of the Year.

In 2005, his university laboratory also received international recognition with a corporate Frost and Sullivan Global Award.  

Distinguished Professor Margaret Brimble CNZM, FRSNZ is a highly accomplished chemist who has been pivotal in the discovery of several new drugs.

She is a Professor and Chair of Organic Chemistry and Director of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Auckland, Principal Investigator of the Maurice Wilkins Centre as well as the Centre of Brain Research and Associate Investigator of MacDiarmid Institute.  

In 2016, Margaret was the first New Zealander to be named as one of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s Distinguished Women in Chemistry. She is also a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science and a recipient of the Rutherford Medal. In 2007, she was named a L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Laureate and in 2014, was awarded the Westpac Women of Influence Award in Science and Technology