Sisters of Mercy establish New Zealand's first Chair in International Health

The McAuley Chair in International Health was launched on 1st February 2007 with a function held at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. The endowment made by Mercy Hospital is part of the Leading Thinkers Initiative of the University which sees all contributions met dollar for dollar by Government funding.

Sisters of Mercy Congregational Leader Sister Denise Fox noted that the gift establishing the Chair represented a significant contribution to the Sister’s efforts to support the achievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Goals. These include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

The Chair is situated in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine and the new professor will be the founding director of a new research centre in international health. It is anticipated that close links will be forged with an existing research cluster in the University which focuses on Poverty, Inequality and Development. There is also opportunity to work with a number of other disciplines in the University including Human Nutrition, Pharmacy, Microbiology and Immunology.

Messages to Dr. Janice McDrury