Richard Faull

Faull is of Ngāti Rāhiri and Te Āti Awa descent.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-13 |title=Sir Richard Faull bestowed kōrowai and tokotoko for services to Māori and neuroscience |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/sir-richard-faull-bestowed-korowai-and-tokotoko-for-services-to-maori-and-neuroscience/DPZLMUCEFFCUTMRA76DFOUIZMI/ |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}} He grew up with four brothers in Tikorangi, Taranaki, where his parents, Phyllis Thelma Faull (née Rogers) and Wilfred Lewis Faull, had a general store.{{cite news|title='Normality has a dullness about it' – The Listener|url=http://www.noted.co.nz/archive/listener-nz-2015/normality-has-a-dullness-about-it/|accessdate=1 January 2017|work=Noted|date=18 June 2015}}{{cite news|title=Brain researcher Professor Richard Faull 'humbled' by New Year Honour|url=http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2016/12/brain-researcher-professor-richard-faull-humbled-by-new-year-s-honour.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102203239/http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/health/2016/12/brain-researcher-professor-richard-faull-humbled-by-new-year-s-honour.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2017|accessdate=1 January 2017|work=Newshub |date=31 December 2016}}{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Alister |last2=Coddington |first2=Deborah |authorlink1=Alister Taylor |authorlink2=Deborah Coddington |title=Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand |year=1994 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |isbn=0-908578-34-2 |page=139}} He attended the University of Otago, earning a Bachelor's of Science in 1967 and a Bachelor of Medicine (MB ChB) in 1970. He followed that with a PhD in neuroanatomy (1975){{cite thesis |last=Faull |first=Richard |year=1975 |type=Doctoral thesis |title=Studies on the projections of the superior cerebellar peduncle and the rubrothalamic and nigrothalamic projections in the rat, and their relevance to the homologies of the anterior parts of the ventral nucleus of the thalamus in the mammalian brain |publisher=ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland |hdl=2292/3103 |url=https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/3103}} and Doctor of Science (DSc) in neuroscience (1994), both from the University of Auckland.{{cite web|title=University of Auckland, abridged academic CV|url=http://www2.kenes.com/parkinson2009/conference/speakers_bio/Richard%20Faull%20%20(2).pdf|accessdate=1 January 2017}} Faull and his wife, Diana, have five children.

Faull is noted for his research into brain diseases, particularly Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. In 2007, his team at the University of Auckland proved that the brain can repair itself by generating new cells, debunking the theory that, once fully formed, the human brain could only degenerate.{{cite news|title=Professor Richard Faull|url=http://brainmatters.co.nz/users/professor-richard-faull|publisher=Neurological Foundation of New Zealand}}{{cite news|title=Episode 3 – Mind matters|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/a-wrinkle-in-time/story/201808130/episode-3-mind-matters|accessdate=1 January 2017|work=Radio New Zealand |date=13 July 2016}} In 2009, he established the University of Auckland's Centre for Brain Research (CBR), to facilitate interactions among different groups and to promote new treatments for brain disease.

File:Richard Faull KNZM investiture (cropped).jpg by the Governor-General, Dame Patsy Reddy, on 26 April 2017]]

In 2005, Faull was awarded the Health Research Council of New Zealand's Liley Medal{{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Phil|title=Richard Faull: Neuroscientist|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/phil-taylor/news/article.cfm?a_id=125&objectid=10482422|accessdate=1 January 2017|work= The New Zealand Herald|date=15 December 2007|language=en-NZ}} and was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to medical research, in the 2005 Queen’s Birthday Honours.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2005 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2005 |date=6 June 2005 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |accessdate=28 April 2020}} In 2007, he was awarded the Rutherford Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand. In the 2017 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medical research.

In recognition of his work establishing links between the Māori community and neuroscience Faull was honoured in 2023 in a ceremony in which he received a kōrowai (cloak) and tokotoko (carved stick).

Notable doctoral students include Bronwen Connor and Rita Krishnamurthi.{{Cite thesis |last=Connor |first=Bronwen Jane |title=The role of neurotrophic factors in neurodegenerative disorders of the human brain |date=1997 |degree=PhD |publisher=ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland |url=https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/3134}}{{Cite thesis |title=Treatment Effects of the N-terminal tripeptide of insulin-like growth factor-1, GPE, in a Rat Model of Parkinson’s Disease |last=Krishnamurthi |first=Rita |date=2006 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Auckland |url=https://academics.aut.ac.nz/rita.krishnamurthi/publications}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/people/rlm-faull Faculty profile at the University of Auckland]
• [https://e-tangata.co.nz/korero/richard-faull-giving-back-to-the-people/ Richard Faull: Giving back to the people]

{{Recipients of the Rutherford Medal}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1945 births

Category:People from Taranaki

Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland

Category:Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand

Category:New Zealand neuroscientists

Category:University of Otago alumni

Category:University of Auckland alumni

Category:People educated at Waitara High School

Category:Recipients of the Rutherford Medal