24/10/2019
Congratulations Jane Harding - Supreme Winner, Women of Influence 2019.
Read the full list of 2019 Women of Influence winners: westpac.co.nz/rednews/women/celebrated-neonatologist-named-2019-supreme-woman-of-influence/
Prof Jane Harding has spent more than four decades improving health outcomes for newborns. She assembles, supports and leads international multi-disciplinary teams to address critical questions in perinatal medicine through world-first research. Her recent work on the ‘Sugar Babies’ trial showed that a simple dextrose (sugar) gel is an effective and safe treatment for the approximately 10,000 babies in New Zealand each year who develop low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). The findings, published in The Lancet, changed medical practice globally. As a result, 90% of New Zealand hospitals are using dextrose gel, halving rates of neonatal intensive care admission for this problem, keeping mothers and babies together, improving the rates of successful breastfeeding and saving approximately $7 million annually.
A Rhodes scholar, Jane’s honours include a 2018 Vice-Chancellor’s Research Excellence Medal from the University of Auckland, a 2017 Siegel Outstanding Science Award from the American Pediatric Society, the 2016 Beaven Medal for translational research from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, a 2014 Gluckman Medal from the University of Auckland, a 2014 Howard Williams Medal from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and being named North & South magazine’s 2004 New Zealander of the Year.
The judges described Professor Harding’s achievements as exceptional, saying she has left a worldwide legacy and continues to make an impact in her field.
