National
Dr Grant Sara
Grant is a psychiatrist, Director of InforMH, NSW Ministry of Health, Clinical Professor, University of Sydney, Adjunct Professor, University of NSW, and co-chair of the national Mental Health Data Governance Forum. Grant has extensive experience in mental health research using data linkage, and is the chief investigator of the Mental Health Living Longer (MHLL) programme, an ongoing state-wide data linkage examining comorbidity, medical care and premature mortality in NSW mental health service users. Grant is an investigator on the ASSET NSW project.
Dr Philip Clayton
Philip Clayton is the Australia & New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA) Deputy Executive Officer and Technical Director. Phil is a Senior Consultant Nephrologist and Epidemiologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital
Dr Georgina Irish
Georgina Irish is the Director of Analystics and Reporting for ANZDATA, Executive Director of the Transplant Epidemiology Group (TrEG) and a Nephrologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Professor Michelle Dickson
Michelle Dickson is the Deputy Head of School, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Director of The Poche Centre for Indigenous Health Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney.
Associate Professor Katy Bell
Katy Bell is a clinical epidemiologist and health services researcher at the Sydney School of public Health, University of Sydney and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. Katy’s research focuses on the evaluation of benefits and harms of medical tests used for screening, diagnosis and monitoring of people with chronic disease.
Associate Professor Alex Varey
Alex Varey is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Staff Specialist at Westmead Hospital and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at The University of Sydney. Alex’s research aims are currently focused on melanoma.
International
Dr Nick Cross
Dr Nicholas Cross is Chief Medical Officer at New Zealand Clinical Research, Clinical Director of the National Renal Transplant Service, Nephrologist at Te Whatu Ora – Waitaha Canterbury/Te Tai o Poutini West Coast and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago. Dr Cross has led policy and practice change in kidney transplantation in New Zealand over the last six years associated with significant increase in transplantation rate. This includes process mapping at 11 DHB with dialysis services and the monitoring of data related to this programme in conjunction with the Ministry of Health. He has strong track record of clinical research in kidney transplantation, with over 500 citations and a h-index of 12.
Associate Professor Rachael Walker
Associate Professor Rachael Walker is an academic nurse practitioner at The University of Auckland. Rachael was the first nephrology nurse practitioner in New Zealand. She is a strong advocate for global kidney advocacy and equity, within much of her research to date being focused on equity, patient experiences, patient reported outcomes and measures. A Prof Walker is on a number of international nephrology committees and groups and committees. She is also a Director on the Kidney Health NZ and Renal Society of Australasia boards.
Dr Ben Beaglehole
Dr Ben Beaglehole is an academic psychiatrist. He currently works as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago and an outpatient psychiatrist at Hillmorton Hospital for Te Whatu Ora, Waitaha Canterbury. His research interests include the use of large databases to evaluate health service use in New Zealand.
Dr Ian Dittmer
Dr Ian Dittmer has worked as a renal transplant physician at Auckland City Hospital, Te Whatu Ora – Te Toka Tumai Auckland, since 1988. He has a special interest in tissue typing issues and is the Medical Director of the New Zealand Kidney Allocation scheme. He was also the New Zealand physician responsible for the Australia New Zealand Kidney Exchange.
Dr Heather Dunckley
Dr Heather Dunckley is the Clinical Scientist and ASHI Director for the New Zealand Blood Service Tissue Typing Laboratory. Dr Dunckley has worked in the field of histocompatibility testing for transplantation for nearly 30 years. Her responsibilities as Director include provision of clinical laboratory services for patients on the kidney transplant waitlist, matching patients and donors prior to transplantation, and follow-up testing posttransplant.
Dr Curtis Walker
Dr Curtis Walker has been a nephrologist at Palmerston North, e Whatu Ora – Te Pae Hauora o Ruahine o Tararua MidCentral, since 2015. He currently serves as Chair of the New Zealand Medical Council and on the board of the Maori Medical Practitioners Association (Te ORA). He has a strong commitment to improving health outcomes for Maori and supporting doctors during their years in specialist training.
John Kearns
John Kearns whakapapa back to the far North Iwi of Ngati Kuri and Te Rarawa. John was first diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease in June 1984 and started haemodialysis in September 1986. He received his third and current transplant on Christmas Day 2015. Altogether he has had 8.5 years of in-centre, self-care and nocturnal home haemodialysis. He is a consumer representative in the ASSET study, providing a voice for people with kidney failure to outline their priorities and important outcomes in kidney transplantation.
Merryn Jones
Merryn Jones is a Registered General and Obstetric Nurse who received her Masters in Nursing Science in 2017. She has worked as a transplant coordinator at Hawkes Bay, Te Whatu Ora – Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay, Renal Service for the past 6 years, and prior to that as a haemodialysis nurse.
Professor Patrick Mark
Patrick (Paddy) Mark is Professor of Nephrology and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at the Glasgow Renal and Transplant Unit, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow. He is currently chair of the United Kingdom Renal Trials Network. He was the Chief Scientist Office Scotland Clinical Lead for Renal Research 2015-2021. Paddy led the Glasgow team in the collaborative project SHE-ROCKS.
Dr Michael Sullivan
Michael is a Clinical Lecturer at the School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health at the University of Glasgow. Michael completed a PhD funded by a Medical Research Council Fellowship in 2022 entitled “Interrogating disease clusters, multimorbidity and adverse outcomes in chronic kidney disease”. His research interests include using large cohorts to study people with kidney disease and their heightened risk of problems such as cardiovascular disease. Michael was a key member of the collaborative project SHE-ROCKS.
Dr Jennifer Lees
Jennifer is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Lead for Data Science (School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow) and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde). Jennifer’s research interests include using data science and clinical trials to understand and improve the long-term risks associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly cardiovascular disease and cancer; use of cystatin C for risk-stratification of adverse outcomes and sex disparities in the care and outcomes of people with CKD. Jennifer’s research skills were instrumental in the SHE-ROCKS collaborative project.