5 April 2019
This April marks 25 years since Institute Director Professor Graham Le Gros and Professor Franca Ronchese joined the Malaghan Institute, bringing a new focus on immunology. The occasion was marked with a special presentation by Board Chairman Graham Malaghan and the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor Juliet Gerrard in front of trustees and staff.
Profs Le Gros and Ronchese were recruited to the Malaghan Institute in 1994 from research positions at Ciba-Geigy and the Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland, moving to New Zealand with their young family. They now spearhead the Institute’s asthma and allergy research programmes, finding new ways to treat and cure allergic disease.
Mr Malaghan acknowledged the pivotal role the pair has played in the Institute's history, helping transform it into the world class centre for immunology that it is today.
"I would like to thank Graham and Franca for their hard work and dedication. They have not only made a significant contribution to research and discovery at the Institute, but to global understanding of the immune system to improve human health."
