Katy Gallagher announced Professor Chris Parish is the 2014 Canberra citizen of the year. File photo: Rohan Thomson
One of Australia's most highly regarded medical researchers, Professor Chris Parish, has been honoured for work spanning more than 40 years by being named ACT Citizen of the Year.
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher announced the award for Professor Parish, who is the head of the Cancer and Vascular Biology Group at the John Curtin School of Medical Research's Department of Immunology at the Australian National University.
"The dedicated work of researchers such as Professor Parish has helped build Canberra's reputation as a centre for excellence in medical research,'' Ms Gallagher said.
Professor Chris Parish, right, Fraser MP Andrew Leigh through the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the ANU. File photo: Alex Ellinghausen Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
"[It] will ultimately help to improve the quality of life for cancer sufferers both locally and across the globe.''
The Chief Minister said 227 individuals and 11 groups had been nominated for the Canberra Gold Group Award.
"The individuals and the organisations that we are honouring [as part of the Gold Group] have lived in the ACT or been established here for more than 50 years and have all made significant contributions to our community," she said.
Groups included the Canberra Royals Rugby Club, Hartley Lifecare, the taxi industry and the Greek Orthodox Community.
The Gold Awards, introduced in 2005, have recognised 3400 individuals and groups to date.
Professor Parish is no stranger to acclaim. In 2011 he was named co-winner, with Dr Ben Quah, of the inaugural Marshall and Warren Award from the National Health and Medical Research Council for discovering that immune cells responding to a foreign substance (or pathogen) are able to rapidly transfer their ability to fight new infection to other immune cells.
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