A great ending for a successful year!
The annual BMS awards ceremony and Christmas function was held on Friday, which saw numerous staff from across the School receive awards for their outstanding performances.
Associate Dean Academic Associate Professor Pat Cragg presented the teaching awards, which were given to Nurit Reichman (Teaching Support) and Dr Rebecca Bird (Distinguished PPF/TF). Associate Professor Fiona McDonald took home the Distinguished Academic Teacher award for her tireless attention to detail and exemplary teaching and leadership record.
Next, Associate Dean Research Dr Rebecca Campbell presented a selection of the School’s Research awards. These were awarded to Dr Ilona Kokay (Focused Contribution), Jim Woods and Leo van Rens from the Emtech Workshop (Sustained Contribution), Andrew McNaughton (Distinguished Contribution) and Associate Professor George Dias (Commercialization Researcher).
Dr Campbell also presented the 2017 Best Researcher Paper Award, which for the first time in the School’s history was awarded jointly to Professor Sally McCormick for her paper on “Recycling of apolipoprotein(a) after PlgRKT mediated endocytosis of lipoprotein(a)”, and to Associate Professor Peter Fineran for his paper Quorum Sensing Controls Adaptive Immunity through the Regulation of Multiple CRISPR-Cas Systems”. Both papers were in high impact journals, and have had significant impact in their respective fields.
Deputy Vice Chancellor External Engagement (and former Dean of the School) Professor Helen Nicholson presented the Kaupapa Maori and Pacifika research Awards. Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith was awarded the Kaupapa Maori Research award, and Dr Jo-Ann Stanton was the Pacifika award winner.
Professor Vernon Ward, Dean of BMS presented the final awards. The Emerging Researcher award, which was given to Associate Professor Niels Hammer and the prestigious final award of Distinguished Researcher was given to Associate Professor Peter Fineran. Peter was unable to attend in person as he was at a conference in Germany, but he submitted a very gracious video acceptance that was played at the event.
Unfortunately, many of the award recipients weren’t able to attend the event, but overall, it was a great success as we reflected on the year and the incredible successes achieved. Including over $45 million in external research grants, a record for the School!
Well done everyone and have a safe and special Christmas break. See you in 2018!
The BMS Dean’s Office
