Public lectures

The Liggins Institute recognises that many of our lectures are of interest to audiences beyond those who attend the event. We are endeavouring to record as many of these as possible and make them available through this site.

December 2011

Dr Richard Fisher CNZM, FRCOG, FRNZCOG CREI

Director Fertility Associates Ltd.
Adjunct Professor of Fertility Medicine at the Liggins Institute

Dr Fisher is a prominent spokesman on infertility issues and pioneer in the development of fertility services and assisted reproductive technologies in New Zealand. He was a member of the National Women’s Hospital team responsible for the country’s first babies born following in vitro fertilisation (IVF). In an effort to make the new technologies available to a greater number of infertile couples, he and colleague Dr Freddie Graham founded New Zealand’s first private fertility clinic Fertility Associates in1987.

At an event held to celebrate his appointment as Adjunct Professor of Fertility Medicine in the Liggins Institute, Dr Fisher described the development of IVF in New Zealand. He paid tribute to his mentor Sir Graham Liggins whose influence guided his early clinical career. However, he said the true pioneers were the parents who underwent the complex procedures, which at that time offered only slim chances of successful pregnancies; they were “courageous beyond belief,” he said.

Watch a recording of Dr Fisher's lecture