Professor Alistair Jan Gunn is currently the head of the Dept of Physiology at Auckland University, and a practicing specialist paediatrician. As a clinician scientist, his focus is on translational research into major causes of death and disability in early childhood, including the mechanisms and treatment of brain damage after birth, the identification of the compromised foetus in labour and methods of resuscitation, and prevention of life threatening events in infancy. His key studies dissected how and when brain injury occurs and the parameters required for successful neuroprotection. He then demonstrated that mild hypothermia was both practical and safe even in very sick babies, and in collaboration with overseas colleagues completed the first randomised controlled trials that confirmed that cooling improved the number of injured babies who survived without disability. Therapeutic hypothermia is now established around the world as standard care for babies exposed to low oxygen levels.
Career and Research Highlights
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2002 Inaugural Health Innovation Awards, MOH, ACC
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2003 Medal of the Tohoku Medical Society, Sendai, Japan
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2005 Publication of the Coolcap study in the Lancet
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2009 Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand
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2010 Sir Charles Hercus Medal, Royal Society of New Zealand
