Rate My Professor Peter Shepherd

Professor Peter Shepherd is Professor of Cell Signalling in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, where he holds appointments in Molecular Medicine and Pathology. He earned his BSc(Hons) and PhD from Massey University and completed postdoctoral positions at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge. Prior to returning to New Zealand in 2004, he held a faculty position at University College London, where he was named London Young Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002. He has founded three biotechnology companies and focuses his research on defects in signal transduction pathways that contribute to cancer and diabetes, with particular emphasis on genetic factors increasing metabolic disease risk in Māori and Pacific populations. His work emphasises translational research, including novel drug discovery programmes in cancer and repurposing existing medicines.

Professor Shepherd has served as Deputy Director of the Maurice Wilkins Centre since 2013 and as Chair of the Queenstown Molecular Biology Society since 2005. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2016. In 2017 he received the RSNZ Callaghan Medal and the CLNZ NZ Educational Book Award for his contributions as a science communicator. He has launched outreach initiatives such as the Sugar in Schools campaign and Professional Teacher Development Days. His professional email address is peter.shepherd@auckland.ac.nz.