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A lifetime of giving

21 November 2014

Thanks to you, we can make a real difference in improving the health and happiness of thousands of people affected by asthma by developing our vaccine. Supporters like the Dr Marjorie Barclay Trust demonstrate the power of philanthropy.

Dr Marjorie Barclay was a leader in life as not only as one of New Zealand's first female hospital specialists, but also for specialising in the then relatively new speciality of diagnostic radiology.  She studied in Edinburgh, Vienna and Boston before returning to Dunedin where she not only worked for the Otago Hospital Board but also lectured at the University of Otago Medical School.

Later in her life, Dr Barclay, who suffered from asthma, moved from Otago to Wellington as she felt the bracing sea air would benefit her health.

Sadly, Dr Barclay passed away in 1978. A charitable trust was established in her name a decade later. Since 2000, The Dr Marjorie Barclay Trust has supported our asthma research. Her legacy of medical innovation lives on at the Malaghan Institute and it is fitting for us to honour her memory at this breakthrough in our asthma research.

Judge Paul F Barber QSO, Chairman of the Dr Marjorie Barclay Trust, adds, “We are very pleased indeed with the way the Malaghan Institute furthers the said objective of Marjorie regarding research into asthma and nervous disorders.  We are kept meticulously informed as to the use by the Malaghan Institute of annual distributions to it from Marjorie’s trust. 

I knew the late Marjorie Barclay very well, both as her lawyer and as a friend.  She was a medical practitioner who became the first female radiologist in Dunedin.  She suffered quite badly from asthma.  She must be very pleased with, and proud of, the work carried out by the Malaghan with some assistance provided from her ongoing charitable trust.”