Ruth Bonita

Ruth Bonita, also known as Ruth Bonita Beaglehole, is an Australian–New Zealand academic, and is an emeritus professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in stroke. In 2006 she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medicine. She is also an Honorary Doctor of Medicine at Umea University.

Academic career

Bonita was born and grew up in New South Wales, where her father was the head of a mining rescue service. In 1966 she met Robert Beaglehole on a boat to China, and they married the following year. The two-year ARCOS study then became part of the MONICA project (Monitoring the Trends and Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease), a longer-term international multicentre project led by the World Health Organisation.

In 1999 Bonita was invited to become the director of surveillance of non-communicable diseases at WHO in Geneva.

Honours and awards In 2006 Bonita was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to medicine. In 1996 she was made an Honorary Doctor of Medicine at Umea University, where she is on the Advisory Board of the Aging and Life Course Programme.

Selected works