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Scope 44 - The Scientist behind the research

26 April 2011

Director of the Malaghan Institute since 1994 and Head of the Institute's Asthma & Allergic Diseases research group, Prof Graham Le Gros is one of New Zealand's most well known and respected research scientists. His scientific career and specific interest in immunology began while earning his PhD at Auckland University. "As a PhD student I was encouraged by my supervisor Dr Jim Watson to think big, to make my own hypotheses and to work very hard" says Prof Le Gros. "Allied with the scientific resources available at that time I was able to gain tremendous insight into how basic immunological processes worked." Prof Le Gros has been able to apply these insights to his later career roles in the pharmaceutical industry, academia and research.

He is a member of several national science advisory committees and is a Professor of the Department of Biological Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington. His highly successful career has been acknowledged with numerous accolades, most recently a medal from the Wellington Medical Research Foundation. This award was in recognition of his outstanding work within the field of immunology and also of the pioneering research that has been conducted at the Malaghan Institute under his leadership over the last 17 years.