Julian Robertson

Wellington, March 19 NZPA - A foundation established by New Zealand's first honorary knight, Julian Robertson, has given $10.2 million to Duke University in North Carolina in the United States to advance the use of cord blood as a therapy.

Duke University has announced that the donation by The Robertson Foundation will go to support the work of Dr Joanna Kurtzberg, who will use some of the funding to move forward with the a clinical trial clinical trial involving children suffering from cerebral palsy.

Auckland six-year-old Maia Friedlander has had treatment at the university after suffering a debilitating brain injury when she was born without enough oxygen.

Her father had since reported an improvement in her condition since being treated with her own stored umbilical cord blood.

Chancellor for health affairs and chief executive of the Duke University Health System Dr Victor Dzau said the emerging field of regenerative medicine had "great promise", and the donation would accelerate the pace of Dr Kurtzberg's and other Duke scientists' work in cell therapies.