Sharing our research and plans with funders and supporters

Dr Swee Tan, PHARMAC communications manager Kerri Osborne and CEO Steffan Crausaz, Chair Paul Baines

During the past few months the GMRI has welcomed a number of VIP’s to our Newtown laboratories, including Steffan Crausaz, CEO of PHARMAC, CEO of the Health Research Council, Professor Kathryn McPherson, and Singapore-based businessman and innovator Robert Yap.

Dr Swee Tan, Executive Director of the GMRI, explained that, as a medical research charity, we need the assistance of the public, Government organisations and other supporters to help fund the work we undertake.

“This will be all the more important as we progress our cancer stem cell research from the laboratory to a clinical study of our pioneering cancer treatment. We need to ensure that funders and supporters know what we are trying to achieve, the benefits of our approach and how they may be able to help,” Dr Tan said.

In August we had the pleasure of hosting PHARMAC CEO, Steffan Crausaz, and Communications Manager, Kerri Osborne. PHARMAC is likely to play an important part in our goal of developing a low cost and widely available treatment for cancer because of the investment it already makes in many of the drugs we are planning to use for a clinical study.

In early October we were visited by Professor Kathryn McPherson, CEO of the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC). The HRC is an independent Crown agency that manages the Government’s investment in health research. It has previously provided a grant in support of our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Tinte Itinteang, and we are hopeful that the HRC will support our research again in the future.

In October we hosted Singaporean businessman and innovator, Mr Robert Yap, Board Director of Fullerton Health. The visit was facilitated by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which is seeking to expand cooperation between New Zealand and Singapore on health, science, technology and innovation.

Dr Tan said that the GMRI was very grateful for the interest and support shown by our guests and others, and would continue to actively engage with organisations that are keen to support the work we do.