Sir Jim Mann becomes a Life Member of the Heart Foundation

Published: 1 December 2025

Professor Sir Jim Mann has been welcomed as a Life Member of the Heart Foundation.

Jim’s association with the Heart Foundation spans three decades, serving as a long-standing Chair of the Scientific Committee, and chairing a number of groups, including the Nutrition Advisory committee in the 1990s.

He provides expert advice and strong leadership as a Heart Foundation board member, a position he has held for the past 10 years.

Jim has always believed in nutrition and exercise for heart health. He was a strong supporter of the first cardiac rehab group in New Zealand, known as The Phoenix Club, founded by Ted Nye, in Dunedin in 1968.

Jim is nationally and internationally renowned for his work.

He is a Professor in Medicine and Human Nutrition at the University of Otago, a position he has held since 1988.

He established the Edgar Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research more than 20 years ago. Today, he is a co-director of the centre.

He is Director of the New Zealand-China Non-Communicable Disease Research Collaboration Centre and until last year was Director of the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge.

Jim has been appointed by the World Health Organisation to lead and serve on numerous advisory groups and centres, including the Collaborating Centre for Human Nutrition, the Nutritional Guidance Advisory Group and the Expert Advisory Panel on Nutrition.

He has led committees that have developed international and national guidelines for the management of obesity and diabetes, and cardiovascular disease risk assessment.

Since 2015 he has been Director of Healthier Lives - He Oranga Hauora National Science Challenge - which aims to reduce the burden associated with New Zealand’s major diseases and achieve equity of health outcomes for New Zealanders.

His over 500 publications and 10 books relate to clinical and public health aspects of diabetes and heart disease.

Research undertaken by him, and his colleagues and students, has largely focused on the role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of disease, notably the beneficial effects of dietary fibre and potentially harmful effects of sugars, which have influenced WHO dietary guidelines and international recommendations for the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases.

His contributions have been recognised in the form of several honours and awards.

Jim was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to health in the 2022 New Year Honours. The award follows a CNZM in 2002 and recognises his decades of work demonstrating links between nutrition and health.

Other awards include – the Sir Charles Hercus Medal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the University of Otago Distinguished Research Medal, Distinguished Researcher Award from the University of Otago School of Medicine, the Himsworth Award of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and the RD Lawrence Award of Diabetes UK.

Born in South Africa, he received his medical education, early clinical experience and introduction to research there and in England, where he was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and honorary physician at the Radcliffe Infirmary.

He first became known in the research community in the UK after challenging a British Medical Journal article by a prominent UK cardiologist who contended diet did not play an important role in heart disease.

Jim moved to New Zealand in 1988 becoming Professor of Human Nutrition and Medicine and Head of Endocrinology at Dunedin Hospital.

Heart Foundation Chair Mike Tomlinson said at the Annual General Meeting (November 26 2025), that he deeply admired Sir Jim’s energy, optimism, and tireless commitment to addressing health inequities and advancing heart health for all New Zealanders.

“It is my privilege to recognise his remarkable service and enduring contribution by welcoming him as a Life Member of the Heart Foundation.”