Sir Ray Avery
Scientist & Inventor, Medicine Mondiale
Sir Ray Avery is a scientist and inventor who built his public reputation on a simple idea: that life-saving medical technology could be made cheap enough for the poorest parts of the world. Through his charity Medicine Mondiale he worked on eye lenses, intravenous devices and infant nutrition, and in 2010 he was named New Zealander of the Year.
A Hard Start
Avery was born in England in 1947 and has been open about a difficult early life spent in orphanages and foster care. He trained as a pharmaceutical scientist, worked in the drug industry, and later emigrated to New Zealand, where he settled and did most of the work he is known for.
Medicine Mondiale
In 2003 Avery founded Medicine Mondiale, a not-for-profit that develops affordable medical technology for the developing world. His best-known contribution came in eye care: working with the Fred Hollows Foundation he helped drive down the cost of the intraocular lenses used in cataract surgery, making sight-restoring operations affordable at scale. He also developed the Acuset IV flow controller, a low-cost device for regulating intravenous drips, and worked on a low-cost protein infant formula.
Recognition
The medical work brought national profile. He was named New Zealander of the Year in 2010 and knighted in 2011, becoming a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to philanthropy. He became a familiar public speaker and advocate for social enterprise.
The LifePod Questions
From around 2016 Avery promoted the LifePod, a low-cost infant incubator he said would save newborn lives in the developing world. The project drew public scrutiny, and a planned fundraising concert at Eden Park was cancelled in 2017 amid questions about the device and how the appeal was run. It is a reminder that even well-intentioned social ventures face hard questions about delivery and evidence, and that a strong story is not the same thing as a shipped product.
Sir Ray Avery features in our guide to the most famous New Zealand entrepreneurs.
About this profile
This profile was researched and written by Noteworthy using publicly available sources. If something here is out of date or incorrect, let us know and we’ll review it.
