Gold Awards for Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban and Ferrier Research Institute
Victoria University of Wellington celebrated two successes at last night’s Wellington Gold Awards, with Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika), Associate Professor Hon. Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban receiving the 'The Dominion Post Tribute to a Wellington Icon' award and the Ferrier Research Institute receiving the Discovery Gold award.
6 July 2018
Established in 1999, the Wellington Gold Awards celebrate excellence and enterprise in the Wellington region.
About 900 people gathered at this year's event to celebrate and acknowledge the 57 finalists.
Dame Winnie was the first Pacific Island woman Member of Parliament and has been Victoria University's Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika) for eight years, providing direction and support to Pacific students and staff, which has seen an increase in enrolments and achievement.
Dame Winnie became a Dame Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) for her services to education and the Pacific community earlier this year and has worked tirelessly to bring people together for positive and meaningful outcomes and results, says Wellington Gold Awards Director John Dow.
Victoria University’s Ferrier Research Institute received the Discovery Gold Award for work which led to the creation of Mundesine®, which treats patients with previously hard-to-treat lymphomas. A key active ingredient in the drug was first synthesised by Ferrier Research Institute Director Professor Richard Furneaux and Professor Peter Tyler after being conceived by Professor Vern Schramm from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
“I’m really happy to have our efforts recognised in this way” says Professor Furneaux. “That a compound first synthesized here at Gracefield by Professor Tyler is now treating a deadly cancer is pretty special.”
Just over a year ago, Japan became the first country to approve Mundesine®, licensed by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. under an exclusive licence with Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Viclink.
“The Mundesine® success story is an excellent example of the both the commercial credibility and dedication to translation within the Ferrier Research Institute team,” says Anne Barnett, CEO of Viclink. “It is a pleasure for Viclink to work with Ferrier to guide their world-leading science through to realisation in the market place”.
MUNDESINE® is a registered trade mark (in Japan) of Mundipharma AG.