Announcing the award, for outstanding scholarly achievement, vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne said Prof Guilford had produced ground-breaking research.
He had also worked to translate it into commercially-available products that were benefiting cancer patients around the world.
He had made "fantastic achievements" in cancer diagnostics and prognostics. Prof Guilford, who directs the university’s Centre for Translational Cancer Research, says his team’s research had built a strong understanding of new cancer diagnostic methods and the molecular basis of familial and sporadic stomach cancer.
The challenge was now to turn the new information into "new, practical tools for the prevention and treatment of cancer", he said.
Among the most well-known of his outstanding contributions to cancer biology and cancer genetics was his work in identifying the first known gene for fatal inherited gastric cancer.
This came after a partnership with an affected North Island Maori whanau who came to the university’s Cancer Genetics Laboratory hoping to understand why so many family members were dying of the disease.
Prof Guilford and colleagues developed a simple genetic test to determine which family members would benefit from early intervention. The test had been used around the world.As chief scientific officer with Pacific Edge,
in a spin-off from his university research, he helped develop CxBladder, a bladder cancer test.
