Auckland-based neuroscientist Professor Richard Faull is the Supreme winner of the 2010 World Class New Zealand Awards. The annual awards are presented by Kea New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and recognise New Zealand innovators and entrepreneurs who have made significant contributions to the country’s growth and development.
Professor Faull is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and in 2007 won the Rutherford Medal for his ground-breaking work in understanding the human brain.
The Royal Society is very pleased to acknowledge his success. President Dr Garth Carnaby said Professor Faull has a passion and enthusiasm to ensure that his research is world class and that it engages and benefits the whole community.
“He has made outstanding contributions in research which has been far-reaching, both internationally and in New Zealand.”
Professor Richard Faull is a leading international expert on the human brain. His contributions include the demonstration that stem cells in the diseased human brain have the potential to form new brain cells; and he has shown, for the first time, the stem cell pathway for new brain cells in the human brain
“He has a firm commitment to communicating the latest research developments to patients and families to offer them support and hope for the future,” said Dr Carnaby.
Professor Faull is based at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at The University of Auckland, where he is the Director of the Centre for Brain Research and founded the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand Human Brain Bank – an internationally recognised resource providing tissue for leading research programmes on Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and epilepsy.
