Sir Graham Collingwood "Mont" Liggins (24 June 192624 August 2010) was a New Zealand

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

. A specialist in

obstetrical Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...

research, he is best known for his pioneering use of

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...

injections ( antenatal steroids) in 1972 to accelerate the lung growth of

premature babies Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between 2 ...

. This made it possible for many preterm babies with lung problems to survive. Liggins was educated at the University of Auckland obtaining a PhD in 1969. His doctoral thesis was titled ''The Role of the foetal adrenal glands in the mechanism of initiation of parturition in the ewe''. In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, Liggins was appointed a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

for services to medical research. He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

, also for services to medical research, in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours. The

Liggins Institute , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $251 million (31 December 2020) , budget = NZD $1.226 billion (31 December 2020) , chancellor = Scott St John , vice_chancellor = Dawn Fres ...

was named in his honour. Liggins died on 24 August 2010, aged 84, following a long illness.Sir Graham Liggins FRS FRSNZ 1926 – 2010

References

1926 births 2010 deaths New Zealand Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand obstetricians Place of death missing People from Thames, New Zealand New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand medical researchers 20th-century New Zealand scientists {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub