As Director of the Ferrier Research Institute of Victoria University of Wellington he leads a world – renowned team of 38 research scientists and 17 PhD students.
A major focus is the discovery and commercialization of “Glycotherapeutics” – drugs and dietary supplements based upon knowledge of the role of carbohydrates molecules in biological processes.They partner nationally and internationally for biology and biochemistry.
Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Aparangi, was awarded the Hector Medal in 2006 and the Thomas Award in 2012, was selected as Wellingtonian of the Year in Scene and Technology in 2013 and won KiwiNet Supreme award and the Research Entrepreneur Award in 2017.
He has authored 194 original papers, 26 reviews or book chapters and been named as an inventor on 22 international patent families. He is the Director of Discovery Chemistry at GlycoSyn and Director of the NZ companies Humble Bee Limited and Hardie Health Limited and former director of Avalia immunotheraoies Ltd.
Richard began his career in Chemistry Division of DSIR in 1980 after completing his Phd at Victoria University of Wellington with Professor Robin Ferrier and subsequent Post- Doctoral work with Professor Fred Shafizadeh at University of Montana, USA.
{September 2018}