To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
ELLIOTT, Professor Robert Bartlett, CNZM
For services to medical research
Professor Robert Elliott was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1999 for his services to medical research.
Professor Elliott has been Medical Director of Living Cell Technologies (LCT) since 1999, which develops cell-based products to treat life threatening human diseases. He pioneered the transplantation of insulin-producing pig cells into humans to treat type-1 diabetes and oversaw the development of a joint venture with a Japanese commercialization partner for further development of DIABECELL in the United States and Japan. Most recently LCT has focused on developing cell therapies to treat neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. He co-founded and is a director of NZeno, which applies gene editing technology to New Zealand pigs to produce safe pig kidneys that are compatible for human transplantation. In 2011 he received the World Class New Zealander (Life Sciences) award recognising his achievements as an entrepreneur in life sciences, as a medical educator, and in patient care. He co-founded the Child Health Research Foundation in 1971, now known as Cure Kids, the largest funder of child health research outside the Government. His method for testing for Cystic Fibrosis in infants has been internationally adopted. In the early 1990s Professor Elliott began researching A2 beta-casein in milk and its implications for Type 1 diabetes and heart disease, which informed the establishment of the A2 Milk Corporation.
HONOURS
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, New Year 1999
To be a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
LARDELLI, Professor Derek Arana Te Ahi, ONZM
For services to Māori art
Professor Derek Lardelli is a leading tā moko artist, visual artist, kapa haka performer, orator, composer, graphic designer, researcher, cultural consultant and educationalist.
Professor Lardelli is Ahorangi at Toihoukura, School of Visual Arts Maori, in Gisborne and has been prominent in promoting Māori arts nationally and internationally. His artwork is found in national and international institutions, public buildings and private collections. He created the Maui sculptures on his tribal mountain, Hikurangi. In 2018 he created the entranceway installation for the ‘Ko Rongowhakaata’ exhibition at Te Papa. As Chairperson of Te Uhi a Mataora, a national Tā Moko Arts collective, he has been heavily involved in the retention and development of the rituals, karakia and oral histories associated with Tā Moko, and is credited with leading the renaissance of this art form. He is a composer, performer and leader of Whāngārā mai Tāwhiti Kapa Haka group, twice winners of the Te Matatini national competition. He composed the New Zealand Universities rugby team haka and most recently the ‘Poutangata’ haka for the New Zealand Olympic Committee. His most recognised composition is the All Blacks haka, ‘Kapa O Pango’. He is a Trustee of Toi Māori Aotearoa and member of Te Papa Tongarewa’s Repatriation Advisory Panel and the New Zealand Olympic Committee Māori Advisory Committee. Mr Lardelli has served on the Waitangi Tribunal and was a Trustee of the New Zealand Arts Foundation.
HONOURS
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Queen’s Birthday 2008