The Central Otago Friends of the Malaghan Institute, formed late last year, is the institute’s first such South Island group.
Professor Kjesten Wiig, who took over from long-standing CEO Graham Le Gros in January, was recently hosted at a Ladies VIP High Tea in Arrowtown.
"We are a charity and we’re supported by the community, hopefully for the benefit of everybody, and we can’t do that unless we’ve got friends in different places," she says.
"Obviously one aspect of that help is fundraising, but I think it’s broader than that — it’s about spreading the word and letting people know what it is we’re trying to do."
Wiig, whose institute researches not only cancers but illnesses across the immune spectrum, says "I feel really strongly we need a revolution in medical care".
"If we understand why we get sick and the role of the immune system in that, we’ll be able to either prevent or create better treatments for it."
Wiig herself lost a son to a rare cancer at the age of 19.
It’s fitting there’s a local friends group as the institute’s establishment was funded in 1967 by Queenstown-born businessman and benefactor Len Malaghan, who established the Tip Top ice cream brand in New Zealand.
His great-uncle, Michael Malaghan, arrived in Queenstown in 1862, was the town’s third mayor and contributed to the establishment of our first hospital.
In turn, Len’s son Graham, a Queenstown holiday homeowner, was the institute’s longtime chair.
Wiig says she feels "part Central Otago" herself.
Born in Dunedin, where she received her PhD from the University of Otago, her best friend’s in Arrowtown and her partner has a home in Hawea.
"I come down a lot, it’s such a beautiful part of the country."
