The Jurors

Dr Naoko Muramatsu

Dr Muramatsu has researched extensively into the effects of an ageing population in Japan.  Her research aims to improve the health of diverse aging populations and the quality of long-term care systems, focusing on social, cultural, policy and system factors that shape the health and well-being of older people and their caregivers.

Professor Tim Wilkinson

Associate Dean Medical Education, Otago School of Medicine, Consulting Geriatrician.

Tim is an educator and academic who has specialised in geriatric medicine at Otago Medical School. He is also a consulting geriatrician at Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch.

Professor Sarah Harper CBE

Director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, Professor of Gerontology Oxford University.

Professor Harper is a specialist in demography and has studied and published research on how societies are likely to cope with people living longer lives. She was the founder of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing at Oxford University, and was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2018 for her services to the science of demography.

Dr Erwin Neher

Professor, University of Göttingen, Germany, Nobel Prize Laureate.

Dr Neher is a biophysicist who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1991. He is a specialist in research on the signaling mechanisms of the central nervous system, which has a bearing on degenerative diseases and ageing. He is passionate about the biological issues that are posed by greater longevity.

Professor Erwin Neher talks about the Ryman prize

Dr David Kerr

Former Chair of Ryman

He is a fellow and Past President of the New Zealand Medical Association and has been awarded a fellowship with Distinction by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. 

Dr Brian Draper

Dr Brian Draper is a Conjoint Professor in the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales and Director, Academic Department for Old Age Psychiatry, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney. He is Deputy Director of the Primary Dementia CRC based at UNSW and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Neurosciences Research Australia.

Brian is a well-respected authority on late life mental health issues.