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John Fraser

Dean, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland
John Fraser has been Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Auckland since 2012. He is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington (BSc Hons ‘80) and University of Auckland (PhD ’83), and conducted fundamental immunology research at Harvard before returning to New Zealand. He was the inaugural Wellcome Trust (UK) Senior Fellow in Medical Science (1992) John holds a Personal Chair in Molecular Medicine and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. John has a long-standing interest in immunity, infectious disease and particularly the mechanisms of virulence and pathogenicity of microbes. His current research focuses on the development of a staphylococcal vaccine. John has published over 170 peer reviewed publications and books and has supervised 35 postgraduate and doctoral students. He serves on a number of national and international scientific bodies, boards and committees and is a foundation principal scientist of the national Maurice Wilkins Centre of Research Excellence. John was President of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology (2018-20) John is a strong advocate for the role of science in society and the importance of research led teaching in medical education.

Beyond COVID vaccines: what else could mRNA technology do for our health?

Oct 18, 2023 23:42 pm UTC| Health

Many people first became familiar with the term mRNA when Pfizers and Modernas COVID vaccines were rolled out. In the simplest terms, mRNA, which stands for messenger ribonucleic acid, is a type of genetic material that...

Economy

Germany’s Economic Recovery Slows as Trade Tensions and Rising Costs Weigh on Growth

Germanys economic outlook remains cautious, with a new forecast from the German Economic Institute (IW) indicating only modest improvement in 2025 as global trade falters and domestic financial pressures intensify....

Japan’s Nikkei Drops as Markets Await Key U.S. Inflation Data

Japans Nikkei 225 slid on Friday, erasing its gains for the week and diverging from mostly positive Asian markets as investors turned cautious ahead of a crucial U.S. inflation reading that could influence the Federal...

Europe Confronts Rising Competitive Pressure as China Accelerates Export-Led Growth

Europe is facing growing competitive pressure from China as Beijing intensifies its export-driven growth strategy, a shift Goldman Sachs says is reshaping the outlook for several major European industries. The bank...

Citi Sets Bullish 2026 Target for STOXX 600 as Fiscal Support and Monetary Easing Boost Outlook

Citigroup has raised its outlook for European equities, setting a 2026 year-end target of 640 for the STOXX 600 index. The forecast suggests a potential 10.5% upside from Thursdays close, reflecting growing confidence in...

Dollar Weakens Ahead of Expected Federal Reserve Rate Cut

The U.S. dollar hovered near a five-week low on Friday as global investors positioned themselves for a widely anticipated Federal Reserve rate cut next week. The greenback remained under pressure across major currencies,...

Politics

Taiwan Opposition Criticizes Plan to Block Chinese App Rednote Over Security Concerns

Taiwans political landscape heated up after the government announced a plan to suspend access to the Chinese social media platform Rednoteknown as Xiaohongshufor one year. The interior ministry said the proposed ban stems...

China’s Expanding Maritime Military Presence Alarms Taiwan and Japan

Taiwan and Japan expressed growing concern on Friday over Chinas expanding military activity across East Asian waters, following a Reuters report revealing Beijings largest maritime deployment to date. According to...

Honduras Election Turmoil Intensifies as Nasralla Blames Trump for Shift in Results

Honduran presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla says last-minute interference by former U.S. President Donald Trump undermined his chances in the countrys tightly contested election. Speaking with Reuters, Nasralla, a...

Australia and Japan Strengthen Defence Cooperation Amid Rising Regional Tensions

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles will travel to Japan on Saturday for high-level defence talks with his counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, as both nations deepen security cooperation in response to growing regional...

U.S. Justice Department Orders Intensified Probe Into Antifa and Domestic Extremist Groups

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed federal law enforcement agencies to significantly ramp up investigations into the antifa movement and other groups deemed potential domestic extremist threats, according to an...

Science

Senate Sets December 8 Vote on Trump’s NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced it will vote on December 8 on President Donald Trumps renewed nomination of private astronaut and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman, known for his...

NASA Cuts Boeing Starliner Missions as SpaceX Pulls Ahead

NASA has significantly scaled back Boeings Starliner program after years of technical issues and delays, announcing that the next Starliner mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will fly without astronauts. The...

Blue Origin’s New Glenn Achieves Breakthrough Success With First NASA Mission

Blue Origins massive New Glenn rocket marked a major milestone as it completed its first mission for paying customers, sending two NASA satellites toward Mars and successfully landing its reusable booster at sea. The...

Cogent Biosciences Soars 120% on Breakthrough Phase 3 Results for Bezuclastinib in GIST Treatment

Cogent Biosciences (NASDAQ: COGT) shares skyrocketed over 120% after the biotech company announced groundbreaking results from its Phase 3 PEAK trial evaluating bezuclastinib in combination with sunitinib for patients with...

Trump and Merck KGaA Partner to Slash IVF Drug Costs and Expand Fertility Coverage

U.S. President Donald Trump and German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA have announced a groundbreaking deal aimed at lowering the cost of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments while boosting access to fertility care in...

Technology

EU Prepares Antitrust Probe Into Meta’s AI Integration on WhatsApp

The European Commission is reportedly preparing to launch a new antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) over the companys recent rollout of artificial intelligence features within WhatsApp....

Sam Altman Reportedly Explored Funding for Rocket Venture in Potential Challenge to SpaceX

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly explored raising significant capital to acquire or partner with a rocket company, a move that could have created direct competition with Elon Musks SpaceX. According to a report from the...

Wikipedia Pushes for AI Licensing Deals as Jimmy Wales Calls for Fair Compensation

Wikipedia is seeking additional licensing deals with major technology companies to address the growing financial burden caused by artificial intelligence firms heavily scraping its platform, according to co-founder Jimmy...

Firelight Launches as First XRP Staking Platform on Flare, Introduces DeFi Cover Feature

Firelight reaches 25M XRP deposit cap within hours of launch; ushers in a new era for decentralized XRP staking. A new XRP staking platform, Firelight, has officially launched on the Flare blockchain, marking the first...

OpenAI Moves to Acquire Neptune as It Expands AI Training Capabilities

OpenAI has confirmed plans to acquire Neptune, a startup known for its advanced tools that help companies track, monitor, and optimize AI model training workflows. Although the company did not release the financial details...