Royal Society of New Zealand honours GM of GlycoSyn
IRL, 12 December 2006

GlycoSyn's General Manager, Dr Richard Furneaux, has been awarded the Hector Medal from the Royal Society of New Zealand.

It was presented to him on Monday 11 December for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of carbohydrate chemistry and for achieving world-wide recognition of chemistry and pharmacology in New Zealand.

The Hector Medal is awarded annually and then rotated between key science areas. It encompasses achievements within chemical sciences, physical sciences, mathematical and information sciences.

Professor Vern Schramm from New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine supported Dr Furneaux’ award with a keynote speech focussing on an anti-malarial drug that both parties are working on.

The project will be given a kick-start early next year with funding from the Medicine for Malaria Venture (MMV) which will aim to support the drug’s development through to testing on primates.

More on the anti-malarial project will follow next month.