Professor Richard Furneaux is a Distinguished Scientist at Te Kāuru - Ferrier Research Institute of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

On 1st February 2023, after 38-years in a leadership role, he stepped down as Institute Director, to pursue research and business engagement activities. The Ferrier is New Zealand’s leading Applied Organic Chemistry and Synthetic Biology R&D capability, with more than 40 science staff and 20 PhD students, bringing better drugs, materials and technology to the world.

Richard has a particular expertise in carbohydrate chemistry, Glycotherapeutics and their development through to manufacture under GMP for clinical trials, and in the chemical composition and uses of natural products, including seaweed and other polysaccharides. He has co-authored 205 peer-reviewed journal articles, 31 reviews or book chapters, and has been named as an inventor on 22 international patent families, many licenced for commercialisation, with Mundesine® approved in Japan for treatment of a T cell lymphoma and other products in the market.