Claire Reilly

Claire Aileen Reilly is a New Zealand advocate for the motor neuron disease community and research. Qualified as a medical doctor, she was diagnosed with motor neuron disease (MND) in 2006. Reilly was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 2017.

Illness and career Reilly grew up on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, moving to Alexandra in her teenage years. Reilly completed her medical training at the University of Otago in 1997.

In 2006, when working as a doctor in a hospital in Melbourne, Reilly developed symptoms including tripping, difficulty with a button and muscle wasting in her hand, and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or MND. She was 32 years of age when diagnosed, and returned to New Zealand after the diagnosis.

Within six months of diagnosis, Reilly was in a wheelchair.

Reilly worked for Motor Neurone Disease New Zealand from 2015 to 2022, as Fundraising Development Manager and later as Community and Research Advisor. She encouraged the organisation to support research and to establish the Motor Neurone Disease New Zealand Research Fund in 2015. writing the MND Research Strategy 2019–2022, and presenting on the NZ Research Strategy at the Australia and New Zealand MND Research Symposium in 2022.

Reilly was behind the 2019 MND Hui which brought together health professionals, MND NZ staff, representatives of District Health Boards and Members of Parliament to discuss ways to standardise care for people living with MND. This led to establishing the Motor Neurone Disease Clinical Working Group, co-chaired by Reilly, to develop standardised guidelines for care of people with MND. Reilly led the work on the Best Practice Recommendations for the Care of People with Motor Neurone Disease in New Zealand, published in 2022. The citation stated:

Selected works