Your DNZ
Diabetes NZ mourns the loss of Sir Eion Edgar. A leader, advocate, and philanthropist, he had been the patron of our organisation since 2011.
SIR EION EDGAR 30 January 1945–14 June 2021
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ir Eion Edgar did not have diabetes himself and didn’t have any close family members with the condition. Nonetheless, it was a cause that captured his heart. On becoming patron of Diabetes NZ he said, ‘My frustration is that other conditions, such as cancer and heart attacks, get good funding. But because diabetes mainly affects lower socio-economic groups, we don’t get that kind of support. That’s why we need to raise its profile.’ Sir Eion’s interest in diabetes began in 1999, when he was the first person asked to join a new Diabetes Business Group set up by Paul Bowe, then VicePresident of Diabetes NZ. This interest led Sir Eion and his wife Jan, Lady Edgar, to fund the first University of Otago Leading Thinkers initiative – a Chair in Diabetic Medicine awarded to Professor Jim Mann. As a result, the Edgar National Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research (EDOR) was formed. It was later strengthened by the creation of a second Leading Thinkers Chair in Early Childhood Obesity, held by Professor Rachael Taylor, the current Director of EDOR. As well as his philanthropic support, Sir Eion played an active role in the life of the Centre. He was chair of the EDOR advisory board, which met several times a year. He also attended and gave the opening
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DIABETES WELLNESS | Spring 2021
