Professor Ed Gane

New Zealand Innovator of the Year

2017

2degrees

New Zealand Innovator of the Year

Te Pou Whakairo o te Tau

Professor Ed Gane

Professor Ed Gane′s dedicated and innovative work has contributed to the development of a cure for Hepatitis C, a life threatening disease that currently affects over 50,000 New Zealanders as well as many millions of people worldwide.

Hepatitis C is a devastating liver disease that affects four times as many people globally (150-170 million) as HIV/AIDS (37 million).

Hepatitis C is a blood-to-blood infection spread by such things as transfusions, unsterilised needles and tattoos. The Hepatitis C virus attacks the liver over several years causing cirrhosis and liver cancer and is now the leading cause of liver deaths and liver transplantation in New Zealand. There is no vaccine and up until recently there has been no safe or effective treatment

Professor Gane believed a combination of new oral anti-virals held the key to successful treatment.

For a number of years, Professor Gane supervised meticulous drug trials on Kiwi volunteers with chronic hepatitis C. He trialled various combinations of different anti- virals until he finally got the results he was looking for.

Thanks to Professor Gane and his international colleagues′ innovative work and perseverance, almost everyone with hepatitis C can now be cured with a short course of tablets. The World Health Organisation recently announced that more than one million people have already been cured with these new drugs and that global eradication of hepatitis C should now be achievable within the next 30 years.

This outstanding advance in treatment of hepatitis C will have a future global impact at a similar scale that the Polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk has had since 1955.

For those turning bold ideas into real-world impact. These innovators lead with courage and creativity, pushing boundaries in science, tech, culture or social change. Their mahi moves Aotearoa forward – and opens doors for those coming next.

Nominees of this Award must:

Be an individual or duo, who has developed an innovation involving a product, service, technology, idea/theory or process across any industry sector including (but not limited to) health, science, technology, robotics, business, education, environmental, sustainability, agriculture, disadvantaged communities, culture and non-profits.
Have had significant impact over the last 12 months.
Be a role model for New Zealanders and work towards a brighter future for Aotearoa.
Meet Awards Conditions of Entry.

What we mean by innovation: An idea, product, service, technology, or process that creates meaningful change – through original invention, smart adaptation of an existing solution, or creative application of knowledge not done before in Aotearoa.

Award Criteria

Judges will review each nominee using the following criteria:

OVERALL INSPIRATION
Rate how inspired you are by this nominee and what they’ve done over the past year.
INNOVATION
Rate the innovation of the nominee/s and the thoughtful, creative, and innovative approach taken to resolve a challenge.
NEED
Rate how well this nominee’s mahi addresses an unmet or underserved need, and how unique their approach is.
COMMITMENT
Rate the commitment of time, and the personal risks (financial, reputational, career) and challenges this nominee has overcome to develop their innovation (this may still be ongoing).
PROVEN IMPACT
Rate how the innovation has demonstrated a positive impact on Aotearoa (particularly over the last 12 months), and how well this impact has been measured.
POTENTIAL
Rate the opportunity this nominee has to generate economic, social, and/or environmental benefits for a local industry sector, the nation, and/or globally.
LEADERSHIP & LEGACY
Rate how well this nominee embodies the qualities of a great New Zealand innovator (courage, persistence, generosity of knowledge-sharing) and their role in inspiring or enabling others in this space.