Our Story

Who We Are

We focus on raising funding to enable high-impact, New Zealand-based medical research to help save, extend and improve the lives of children diagnosed with serious life-impacting and life-limiting health conditions.

Cure Kids was established by Rotary in 1971 as the Child Health Research Foundation, and since then we have invested more than $65 million in New Zealand research which has helped to shape and vastly improve the way children who live with serious diseases and health conditions are diagnosed and treated.

Cure Kids’ funding supports researchers across New Zealand whose work focuses on childhood cancers, inherited heart conditions, epilepsy, infectious diseases, cystic fibrosis, sudden unexpected death in infants (SUDI), stillbirth, burns as well as child and adolescent mental health – and many, many other areas of research.

Cure Kids is the largest charitable funder of child health research outside the government. We work hard to support the best research possible to make a measurable difference to the health and well-being of children in New Zealand. This is made possible by the continued generosity of individuals, businesses and community groups across our remarkable country.

Governance

The Cure Kids team is made up of passionate and determined people who are all driven by the same goal; to find the cures that so many of our children need.

Cure Kids members

The five Cure Kids Members participate in constitutional and governance management aspects of Cure Kids. Three are drawn from our founding partner, Rotary in New Zealand, continuing its proud association and support of Cure Kids. The fourth Member is the current President or nominee of the Paediatric Society of New Zealand, while the fifth Member is a South Island based nominee from the Board of Paediatricians of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

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Cure Kids Board

The Board provides governance management; administering and controlling Cure Kids. To ensure there is a breadth of experience around the Board table, the constitution requires that the Board includes at least four members with business experience, as well as a Chartered Accountant currently or formerly in public practice and the Chair or a representative of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee.

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Cure Kids Board Advisors

The Board also has the ability to co-opt Advisors as non-voting Board Directors. The current Board have co-opted the four Cure Kids Professorial Chairs as advisors.

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Cure Kids Medical and Scientific Assessment Committee

Cure Kids’ Medical and Scientific Assessment Committee (M&SAC) advises Cure Kids on which research projects to invest in.

Advisors draw on their considerable experience to assess applications based on scientific excellence, the expertise of the team and collaborators, and the potential impact for reducing inequities, and transforming the health of children.

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Cure Kids Emeritus Advisors

Cure Kids is also privileged to be able to seek advice from several experienced academics who have served on Cure Kids’ Assessment Committee for many years, and have made significant contributions to Cure Kids, and to the health of children in New Zealand.

• Professor Alastair Gunn
• Professor Brian Darlow
• Professor Ed Mitchell
• Professor Sally Merry

Member of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand

You can donate to Cure Kids with assurance and confidence. Our fundraising principles are built on our core values – integrity, honesty and respect.

Cure Kids is a member of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand (FINZ), the professional body that represents professional fundraising in New Zealand.

As members of the institute, we adhere to the standards outlined in the FINZ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. This means we will:

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