Chris Jackson

Chris Jackson is a Medical Oncologist with special interest in Gastro-intestinal cancers, Lymphoma, Melanoma and Urological Cancers.
He holds a national role in the research and management of Colorectal Cancer.

He graduated from the University of Otago and trained in New Zealand before working at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London – the world’s first specialist cancer hospital.

Positions and Memberships

• Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago
• Published author of academic articles and book chapters in Gastrointestinal Cancers and Lymphoma
• Current Clinical Leader for Oncology Research at Dunedin Hospital
• Maintains strong links with Cancer Trials within New Zealand
• Co-founder of Mercy Cancer Care

Chris was born and raised in Otago and is strongly committed to the region. He is a cofounder of Mercy Cancer Care, with Mercy Hospital in 2011 ensuring that patients affected by cancer are offered a full range of systemic treatments that may not otherwise be available.

Ole Schmiedel

Ole was a Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology in the Department of Medicine at Hawke’s Bay Hospital, and he has recently moved to work in Auckland DHB. He trained at the Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany and from 1997 to 2008 he worked in the UK, completing his postgraduate training in Cardiff.

Ole’s main clinical and research interests address the management of diabetes and related complications, lipid disorders and weight problems in patients with diabetes. His expertise covers the whole spectrum of endocrine problems, including thyroid and adrenal problems and neuroendocrine disease.

Ole is a fellow of the Royal College of Australasian Physicians as well as a member of The Obesity Society (USA) and the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

Marianne Elston

Marianne Elston, MB ChB, FRACP, PhD, obtained her MBChB with distinction from the University of Otago and completed her Endocrinology training in Auckland and Waikato Hospitals. She then worked in Professor Bruce Robinson’s Cancer Genetics Laboratory at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney where she undertook a PhD investigating the molecular basis of pituitary adenomas.  Her interests include the genetics of endocrine neoplasia and thyroid disease. Dr Elston is currently a Consultant Endocrinologist at Waikato Hospital and Senior Lecturer with the University of Auckland.

Richard Isaacs

Medical Oncologist and Head of Department, Mid Central DHB

Dr Isaacs is currently Vice President of the Palmerston North Medical Research Foundation, and is the recent past Chairman of the Breast Cancer Special Interest Group, a sub-group of the New Zealand Association of Cancer Specialists.  He has been involved in more than 30 medical oncology clinical trials, and has worked extensively with Massey University’s Institute of Molecular Biosciences.

Dr Isaacs is the immediate past Chair of the Advanced Training Committee for Medical Oncology, New Zealand, and is the current Chair of the FRACP Clinical Examinations Committee.

He has published 25 peer reviewed articles.

Dean Harris

Dean Harris is a Medical Oncologist at Christchurch Hospital.

Jonathan Koea

Jonathan is a hepatobiliary surgeon and surgical oncologist who works in Auckland, New Zealand. He is a member of the Te Atiawa tribal Iwi and was educated in New Zealand before undertaking fellowships in surgical oncology and hepatobiliary surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York City.

Jonathan has been a member of the Cancer Council of New Zealand, the New Zealand Cancer Registry Advisory Group, a ministerial appointment to the New Zealand Perioperative Mortality Review Committee and is board chair of the Auckland Division of the Cancer Society of New Zealand.

His research interests concentrate on the management of primary and secondary tumours of the liver, gall bladder and bile ducts as well as in service provision for indigenous peoples particularly oncology and related services.

Jonathan is the author of over 150 publications and is a Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Auckland School of Medicine, where he is involved in undergraduate and post graduate teaching, as well as a Fellow in Public Health at the University of Otago.

Richard Carroll

Richard Carroll is an Endocrinologist working in the Endocrine, Diabetes and Research centre at Wellington Regional Hospital.

His specialist clinical interests include neuroendocrine tumours of the pituitary gland and gut, endocrine tumours including familial syndromes, and obesity.  Additionally he runs an endocrine disorders in pregnancy clinic, with a high frequency of thyroid gland disorders.

He is currently undertaking a PhD studying the mechanisms underlying obesity and gut endocrinology, and has active research interests in these fields and in the management of neuroendocrine tumours.

Bridget Robinson

Professor Bridget Robinson is a Medical Oncologist at Christchurch Hospital and Chair of the Canterbury Comprehensive Cancer Centre, which performs a key role in linking scientists and clinicians managing cancer care. She is also co-director of the MacKenzie Cancer Research Group and Director of the Cancer Society Tissue Bank. She is actively involved in oncology research, with a particular interest in breast and colorectal cancer.

Jeremy Rossaak

Jeremy is a New Zealand trained General Surgeon with subspecialty interests in gastro-intestinal and pancreatico-biliary surgery.  He is based in Tauranga, and holds a senior lecturer position with Auckland University.

Jeremy specialises in benign and malignant conditions of  the oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, bile ducts, pancreas and gallbladder.

He is an academic surgeon with a strong research background having attained a PhD from the University of Otago in 2005. His current research interests are focussed on the pancreas, faster recovery after surgery, nutrition and direct access surgery.

Mee Ling Yeong

Mee Ling Yeong trained in pathology in Auckland and Wellington.  She took a special interest in gastroenterology and liver pathology early in her career and had further training in these specialties in the Royal Free and St Mark’s hospitals in London.  Then followed an appointment in Wellington School of Medicine as senior lecturer in pathology where she embarked on research activities in the fields of gastrointestinal and liver pathology.  Prior to that, she was head of the cytology department, Auckland, where she developed fine needle aspiration cytology after returning from a training period in Karolinska Hospital, Stolkholm.

Mee Ling joined Diagnostic Laboratory, Auckland in 1995 where she was subsequently appointed Clinical Director in histology/cytology, a position she holds to 30 September 2014.

In 1998, she was appointed to the position of pathologist to the newly established Liver Transplant Unit after training in King’s College Hospital, London.  Further training in paediatric liver transplant pathology took place in the University of California at Los Angeles.  She held the position until 2012.

Mee Ling has about 40 publications in liver, gastrointestinal and other areas in anatomic pathology.   Her current research activity is as the principal investigator in the Australian-led COMPASS study, which in New Zealand, is a study into the feasibility of HPV as a primary cervical screening test in place of cervical cytology.  Mee Ling has extensive experience in undergraduate and post graduate teaching in pathology.  In recent years, she has participated in many of the activities of the NETwork! Team, which included presentations, lectures in neuroendocrine tumour pathology and was the pathologist who formulated the pathology guidelines for Australasia though COSA.

Her present position is that of Clinical Leader of the newly established Community Anatomic Pathology service, Auckland District Health Board.

Nicole Kramer

Nicole is a histopathologist at North Shore Hospital in Auckland.

Reena Ramsaroop

• Specialist Pathologist, Surgical Pathology Department, Waitemata DHB, Auckland
• Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
• Chair of the NZBCF medical advisory committee

Reena graduated from the University of Natal Medical School as a Fellow of the College of Pathologists (South Africa). She then practiced as Consultant Pathologist/Senior Lecturer at the Natal Medical School. In 1996, Reena emigrated to New Zealand, practicing at Diagnostic Medlab.

Since her arrival in New Zealand, Reena has completed her Ph.D (2000) and The Australasian College of Pathologist Fellowship. She developed her subspecialty interests in gynaecology, oncology and breast pathology with presentations and publications.

With her particular interests in women’s health and research, Reena was for many years the lead Pathologist for Breast Screen Limited (Auckland Central) and actively pursued research projects in women’s health.  She was a member of the BreastScreen Advisory Group, an active member of the Auckland Breast Cancer Study Group and was president of the NZ Society of Cytology.  Reena was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 New Year Honours in recognition of her services as a histocytopathologist.

Masato Yozu

Dr Masato Yozu is a Consultant in Anatomical Pathology at Middlemore Hospital (Auckland, New Zealand).

He received his Diploma and Bachelor of Medicine degree (Igakushi) at Jikei University School of Medicine (Tokyo, Japan) in 2003 and his Ph.D. (Dr.Med.Sci) from Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Keio University School of Medicine (Tokyo, Japan) in 2006.

Masato received the Fellowship of The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA) in 2013.

Cristin Print

Cris qualified in Medicine from the University of Auckland in 1989 and began research while working as a house surgeon in Dunedin, NZ. He then undertook a PhD in Auckland, followed by a four-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia using genetic modification techniques to study development and cell death. He spent six years in Cambridge University, UK, where he was a Fellow of St Edmunds College and developed a deep interest in genomics and bioinformatics. While there he co-founded a bioinformatics biotechnology company that became listed on the Tokyo stock exchange in 2007.

In late 2005 he returned to the University of Auckland where he leads a cross-disciplinary research team of clinicians, biologists, data scientists and statisticians who use genomics, systems biology and bioinformatics to better understand human disease, especially cancer. He leads the Genomics Into Medicine Strategic Research Initiative in Auckland and Chairs the Auckland Regional Tissue Bank Scientific Advisory Board. He is a Director of the NZ Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) and is Vice President of the Auckland Museum Institute (the Auckland branch of the Royal Society of NZ), a Principle Investigator in the Maurice Wilkins Centre and member of the Science Leadership Team of the ‘Healthier Lives’ National Science Challenge. Previously, he served as President of the NZ Society for Oncology and was Director of the Bioinformatics Institute at the University of Auckland.

Mik Black

Mik Black is an Associate Professor at the University of Otago. He received a B.Sc.(Hons) in Statistics from the University of Canterbury in 1996, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mathematical Statistics and Statistics in 2000 and 2002 from Purdue University. His research interests include the analysis of data from gene expression microarray experiments, Bayesian statistical methods, and statistical computing.

Peter Tsai

Peter completed his MSc specialising in bioinformatics at The University of Auckland in 2008. He was appointed by the university’s Bioinformatics Institute as a research programmer, focusing on next-generation sequencing data. Peter’s areas of expertise involve genome mapping, variant detection, RNA-sequencing and analysing of environmental metagenomics data.

Nick Knowlton

Research Fellow

Alana Gould

Alana is a speciality endocrine nurse, working in the Endocrine, Diabetes & Research Centre at Capital & Coast DHB.  She has been in the role for 3 years and has a particular interest in neuroendocrine tumours, along with thyroid and pituitary diseases. Prior to this role Alana spent 4 years in the same unit as a Diabetes Research Nurse.  She graduated with a  Bachelor of Nursing from Massey University Wellington in 2001 and since then Alana has completed a Masters of Nursing (Clinical) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research through Victoria University Wellington (VUW), and has most recently finished a Post Graduate Diploma in Endocrinology through the University of South Wales in Cardiff (UK). She currently lectures part-time on the Clinical Research Diploma at VUW.  Alana is also kept busy with her two daughters – Holly (7) and Felicity (5), and husband Rob, and enjoys running and mountain biking in her spare time.

Glenys Mahoney

Glenys is Data Manager for the Regional Cancer Treatment Service (RCTS).

Prior to working on the NETwork! Project, Glenys was Data Manager for the PIPER project from Jul 2012 – Jul 2014.  Glenys brings 23 years of oncology experience through her work as a Radiation Therapist in Palmerston North. She has a BSc in Radiation Therapy and is currently studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Research at Victoria University.

Carol Jarvis

Carol trained at Waikato Hospital and subsequently worked in a variety of specialties before becoming an Infection Control Nurse.

After 20 years in this role, she moved to a private surgical hospital to work in quality and management before returning to Waikato Hospital in 2012 to work as an Endocrine Nurse in clinic and diagnostic testing. In this role, Carol also runs a clinical trial with the Waikato Regional Diabetes Clinic.

Carol has presented at numerous conferences in New Zealand and overseas (most recently a poster at ENDO2015 in San Diego), taught postgraduate Infection Control, has an interest in computing and research, and recently had a paper published in Clinical Endocrinology. She is about to start further postgraduate studies at the University of Auckland while working towards a CNS position in Endocrinology.

Debbie Skinner

Debbie has worked as an Enrolled Nurse at Dunedin hospital since 1978 having done her training at Auckland Hospital. After a 3 year break to have her son in 1991, she returned to District Nursing in the Eye Department and other Outpatient areas, alongside working at Ashburn Clinic, a private psychiatric hospital.

Debbie started working at Oncology Outpatients in 1998 and moved to the Oncology Research Unit of Dunedin  Hospital in 2009. She lives 25 kms north of Dunedin at the beautiful beach of Warrington and is a keen gardener with a ½ acre to keep in check!

Auckland Regional Tissue Bank – Te Ira Kāwai

ARTB facilities are located at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences opposite Auckland Hospital in Grafton, as well as at Middlemore and North Shore Hospitals. More information can be found at www.tissuebank.ac.nz.

Helen Morrin

Helen has been the curator of the Cancer Society Tissue Bank located in Christchurch for the past 15 years. She is currently the International Society Of Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) Vice Chair of the Science Policy Committee and editorial board member of the journal “Biopreservation and Biobanking”.  She still remains research active being a member of the Mackenzie Cancer Research Group with an interest in colorectal and breast cancer.

Vernon Harvey (Chair)

Associate Professor Harvey has been a consultant Medical Oncologist at Auckland Hospital since 1984 and in private practice since 1992. He is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Auckland Medical School. He trained in medicine at Guy’s Hospital, London and undertook his postgraduate oncology training in Auckland and at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

Vernon’s primary interest is the management of patients with breast cancer. He is a keen supporter of clinical trials and the Principal Investigator of a large number of clinical trials in early and advanced breast cancer and drug development. He has been closely involved with the clinical development of trastuzumab (Herceptin) since the initial pivotal trial in advanced breast cancer in the early/mid 1990s.He is an active member of several international breast cancer co-operative trial groups and is Chairman and Scientific Director of the Auckland Breast Cancer Study Group. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to Medicine, particularly Oncology Research in the 2010 New Years Honours.

Vernon has been involved in several NZ governmental committees related to cancer and is a member of the Cancer Treatment Subcommittee of PHARMAC, the government agency responsible for public funding of medicines within the NZ Health Service.

Maui Hudson

Maui is from Whakatohea, Ngaruahine and Te Mahurehure and is currently based at the University of Waikato.  He is an interdisciplinary researcher with experience across a diverse range of research areas including traditional medicine, Maori research ethics, Maori economic development, Maori health, and the interface between indigenous knowledge and science.  Maui has been a member of a number of national and institutional ethics committees and was part of the team that developed Te Ara Tika: Guidelines on Maori Research Ethics. He has a Research Developer (Vision Matauranga/Maori Partnerships) role where he provides scientists and researchers with advice to strengthen their projects/proposals around research design, engagement with Maori stakeholders, and cultural/ethical components.  Maui is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Maori and Indigenous Governance Centre at the Faculty of Law where he is the Principal Investigator for a Health Research Council funded project exploring Māori views on Biobanking and Genomic Research.

George Laking

George grew up in Wellington and studied medicine in Dunedin and Wellington.  He completed his postgraduate work in Britain where he wrote his MD on tumour perfusion and his PhD on the economics of diagnosis.  Since 2007 he has worked as a Medical Oncologist in Auckland, with focus areas of lung cancer and adolescent and young adult oncology.  Alongside his hospital work, George is active as an adviser for PHARMAC (member of PTAC since 2009), in tobacco control (Board Member of the Smokefree Coalition), and advocate for public health response to climate change.  At the University of Auckland George is involved in clinical teaching, and his research collaborators include Prof Merryn Gott (School of Nursing) and Prof Mark McKeage (Clinical Pharmacology).

George’s iwi affiliation is Te Whakatōhea, he is involved in Māori Health as a past Chair of Te ORA (the Māori Medical Practitioners’ Association), and as current Chair of the Māori Health Committee of the RACP.

Tony Reeve

Emeritus Professor Tony Reeve has over thirty years experience in the applications of gene technology to cancer research and was one of the first scientists in Australasia to apply the recombinant DNA technology to the analysis of human diseases.  His research interests range from the fundamental mechanisms underpinning cancer growth through to translational research.  He was formerly the Director of the Cancer Genetics Laboratory at the University of Otago and the Otago Genomics Facility.  He had a major role in establishing NZ Genomics Ltd, a company that provides genomic services for NZ researchers. He was a co-founder of Pacific Edge Biotechnology Ltd, a director and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of NZ, the inaugural recipient of the Charles Hercus Medal for Health Research, recipient of the University of Otago Distinguished Research Medal, and was awarded an ONZM for services to medical science.

Richman Wee

Richman is based at the Faculty of Law, University of Otago. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in 1993.

Richman provides comments and advice on the legal, ethical and policy issues regarding the use of human tissue and personal information for health research, as well as clinical/research initiatives involving genomic studies. He is interested in the consent process and the interpretation and communication of information about genomic sequences in research or clinical care contexts. He is a researcher and has been the project manager for the Law Foundation-sponsored Centre for Law and Policy in Emerging Technologies and the ‘Human Genome Research Project: Law, Ethics and Policy for the Future’ at the University of Otago. He has served as the legal member and chair for the NZ Multi-Region Ethics Committee, appointed by the Minister of Health (2007 – 2011). He is presently undertaking research examining the legal, ethical and policy issues relating to biobanks internationally and for NZ.

Murray F. Brennan, MD, FACS

Dr. Brennan is a surgeon with special expertise in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas, endocrine tumors (those that involve the adrenal gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid, and the pancreatic islet cells), and pancreatic and stomach cancers. He was Chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1985 until June 2006.

Dr. Brennan holds the positions of Vice President for International Programs and the Benno C. Schmidt Chair in Clinical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, and works closely with a team of radiologists, pathologists, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists to provide treatments that are individually tailored to each patient. Throughout his career, his clinical and research interests have focused on surgical oncology, endocrinology, metabolism, and nutrition. He has designed and conducted numerous clinical trials, which have produced major findings in the management of patients with soft tissue sarcomas and pancreatic cancer.

John McCall

Professor John McCall holds the McKenzie Chair in Clinical Science at the University of Otago Department of Surgical Sciences.

Sean Grimmond

Professor Sean Grimmond holds the Chair of Medical Genomics (Translational Research Centre) at the University of Glasgow.

Prior to taking up this position, he was Director for the Queensland Centre for Medical Genomics where he led research efforts into pancreatic and ovarian cancer as part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium

Michael Eccles

Professor Eccles heads the Developmental Genetics Group and Pathology at the University of Otago, which aims to identify key developmental mechanisms associated with cancer and differentiation/de-differentiation of cells in human disease.

He has experience with various model systems and approaches to address the above, particularly investigations of kidney cancer, developmental gene families involved in kidney morphogenesis, and the control of gene expression affecting cell fate.

Mike is also the NZICRT Chair in Cancer Pathology.

Papaarangi Reid

Papaarangi is Tumuaki and Head of Department of Māori Health at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand.  She holds science and medical degrees from the University of Auckland and is a specialist in public health medicine. She has tribal affiliations to Te Rarawa in the Far North of Aotearoa and her research interests include analysing disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens as a means of monitoring government commitment to indigenous rights.

Helen Wihongi

Dr Helen Wihongi (Ngati Porou, Ngapuhi, Te whānau a Apanui, Ngati Hine) is the Waitematā and Auckland DHB Director of Māori Health Research.

Helen completed her doctorate in the Department of Psychology at Waikato University. Her discipline is community psychology with a focus on policy and the impact of policy on health populations, in particular Māori populations.

Helen has a strong research and funding background. She sits on a number of clinical and research committees including the Auckland DHB Clinical Ethical Advisory Group, the Precision Driven Health Care Independent Advisory Group, the international HOPE study mortality review group and the Aotearoa New Zealand variome leadership and advisory roopu.

Kimiora Henare

Kimiora (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) is a University of Auckland-trained cancer research scientist.  He is a Health Research Council-funded Eru Pomare Postdoctoral Fellow based at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, where he completed his doctorate in biomedical science.

His research is focussed primarily on tumour/cancer biology, with a particular interest in developing new treatments that can harness the immune system to fight cancer. His formal training and grasp of Māori language and tikanga enables him to fulfil important dual scientific and cultural advisory roles on several different biomedical research projects; including NETwork!.

Kimiora is driven towards improving Māori workforce capacity in biomedical sciences, and in fostering culturally safe and productive relationships within this context.

Maui Hudson

Māui is from Whakatohea, Ngaruahine and Te Mahurehure and is currently based at the University of Waikato. He is an interdisciplinary researcher with experience across a diverse range of research areas including traditional medicine, Māori research ethics, Māori economic development, Māori health, and the interface between indigenous knowledge and science.

Māui has been a member of a number of national and institutional ethics committees and was part of the team that developed Te Ara Tika: Guidelines on Māori Research Ethics, Te Mata Ira Guidelines for Genomic Research with Māori, and He Tangata Kei Tua Guidelines for Biobanking with Māori. He is a foundation member of Te Mana Raraunga Māori Data Sovereignty Network, a co-convener of the Summer Internship for Indigenous Genomics – Aotearoa, and part of the Senior Leadership Team for Genomics Aotearoa.

Siobhan Conroy

Siobhan established Unicorn Foundation New Zealand in 2012. Utilising her background in marketing and business management she has grown it from an idea to the fully fledged organisation it is today. Siobhan brings a unique understanding of NET cancer as her father died from a genetic form of the disease, (MEN Type 1) over 30 years ago which she has also been diagnosed with.

Early on, Siobhan saw the massive need for support and advocacy for NET cancer patients in NZ and is determined to help improve NET cancer support, awareness and treatment options now and in the future. She lives in Auckland and juggles this busy role around her young family.

Michelle Sullivan

​Michelle joined the Unicorn Foundation in 2020 as CEO. She brings a range of senior health and research sector experience ranging from clinical trials to research funding and biotech sector investment.
She is an enthusiastic advocate for all NET cancer patients and their families. Michelle’s PhD in biochemistry earns her the title ‘Dr’ but definitely don’t call her if you need a doctor! She is married with two daughters and lives in Auckland.