Areas of Interest for clinical trials

MMCT works in 22 different Therapeutic Areas across all departments within Middlemore Hospital.

Department Investigators


Department Investigators


Department Investigators

Dr Wil Harrison

Interventional Cardiologist

Dr Wil Harrison is an Interventional Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB and specialises in trans-radial and complex coronary interventions. Dr Harrison has a particular interest in Maori and indigenous cardiac health.

Dr David Heaven

Electrophysiology Cardiologist

Dr David Heaven is a Electrophysiology Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB specialising in management of arrhythmia, radiofrequency ablation, pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

Dr Andrew Kerr

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr Andrew Kerr is a Consultant Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Kerr has participated in a number of grant funded collaborative group trials in areas such as acute coronary syndrome, where Middlemore Hospital was a participating site.

Dr Mayanna Lund

Clinical Cardiologist

Dr Mayanna Lund is a Clinical Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Lund's special interests include heart failure, atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathies.

Dr Jen-Li Looi

Clinical Cardiologist

Dr Jen-Li Looi is a Clinical Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB specialising in non-invasive cardiac imaging with a special interest in Takotsubo syndrome and three-dimensional echocardiography.

Dr Neils van Pelt

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr Neils van Pelt is a Consultant Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB specialising in the diagnosis and management of ischaemic heart disease, modification of cardiac risk factors, echocardiography and cardiac CT.

Dr Douglas Scott

Clinical Director of Cardiology Department

Dr Douglas Scott is the Clinical Director of the Counties Manukau DHB Cardiology department and has been instrumental in setting up the cardiac catheterisation laboratory and interventional services. Dr Scott’s current areas of interests include interventional cardiology, permanent pacemaker implantation and clinical trials.

Dr Timothy Sutton

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr Timothy Sutton has been a Consultant Cardiologist at Counties Manukau DHB since 2001 and has special interests in ischaemic- and valvular heart disease and heart failure. Dr Sutton also has an interest for transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis, a rare, progressive disorder.


Department Investigators


Department Investigators

Dr Paul Jarrett

Clinical Head of Dermatology

Associate Professor Paul Jarrett is the Clinical Head of Dermatology at Counties Manukau DHB. His primary interest is medical dermatology. He has research interests in inflammatory skin disease especially cutaneous lupus erythematosus and the application of Raman spectroscopy to dermatology.


Department Investigators

Dr John Baker

Clinical Director MMCT

Dr John Baker led the formation of the Diabetes service at Counties Manukau DHB as Clinical Head from 1998-2003. Dr Baker has a dual role as an Endocrinologist for Counties Manukau DHB and as Clinical Director for Middlemore Clinical Trials, acting as the Principal Investigator in over 40 clinical trials in diabetes and lipid disorders.

Dr Rinki Murphy

Diabetologist and Physician

Dr Rinki Murphy is a Diabetologist and Physician at Counties Manukau and Auckland DHBs and a Associate Professor at the University of Auckland. Dr Murphy has a special interest in endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes.

Dr Brandon Orr-Walker

Clinical Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes

Dr Brandon Orr-Walker is the Clinical Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Counties Manukau DHB and has extensive experience with a wide range of Endocrine disorders. Dr Orr-Walker is involved in the national quality and guideline programs in diabetes and cardiovascular disease and a member of the Osteoporosis NZ Board, and led a number of commercial/grant trials in diabetes treatment.


Department Investigators

Dr Chris Lash

Emergency Medicine Specialist

Dr Chris Lash is an Emergency Medicine Specialist at Counties Manukau DHB as well as a Senior Lecturer with the University of Auckland's Faculty of Medicine. Dr Lash is also a member of the NZ Emergency Medicine Network with interests relating to sepsis, especially the early recognition and management of sepsis and paediatric self harm.

Dr Eunicia Tan

Emergency Physician

Dr Eunicia Tan is an Emergency Physician at Counties Manukau DHB as well as both a Senior Lecturer and PhD Candidate with the University of Auckland. Dr Tan is particularly interested in research around emergency medicine, paediatrics and clinical education.


Department Investigators

Dr Ravinder Ogra

Consultant Gastroenterologist

Dr Ravinder Ogra is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Ogra has a special interest in the management of gastrointestinal cancers with endoscopic debridement and stenting procedures. Dr Ogra is part of the Ormiston Hospital Weight Loss Service and specialises in the Intragastric Balloon procedure.

Dr Ashok Raj

Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist

Dr Ashok Raj is a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist at Counties Manukau DHB and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. Dr Raj has a strong research interest in gut microbiota.

Dr Tien Huey Lim

Consultant Gastroenterologist

Dr Tien Huey Lim is the Principal Investigator for the chronic hepatitis B and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) trials at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Lim works on a portfolio of commercial and investigator initiated trials, as part of the global effort to find a cure for hepatitis B/NASH.


Department Investigators

Dr Samar Issa

Consultant Haematologist and Clinical Head of the Lymphoma Service

Dr. Issa is a Consultant Haematologist and Clinical Head of the Lymphoma Service at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Issa is an active member of a number of scientific groups; is the founding chair of the Lymphoma Network of New Zealand and the founding Clinical Director of the Middlemore Tissue Bank. She has multiple research publications and is the primary investigator on several local and international lymphoma clinical trials. Dr Issa is the Principal Investigator for a number of lymphoma trials at Counties Manukau DHB.

Dr Sharon Jackson

Consultant Haematologist

Dr Sharon Jackson is a Consultant Haematologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Jackson has a led a number of commercial trials in haematological conditions such as myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, enabling patients to access drugs that are not funded or otherwise unavailable in NZ.

Dr James Liang

Clinical & Pathology Haematologist Consultant

Dr James Liang has been a Clinical & Pathology Haematologist Consultant at Middlemore Hospital since 2017. Continuing his research interests as a Principal Investigator in various clinical trials, Dr Liang’s current interests include adult haematological cancer and management of general haematological conditions.

Dr Gordon Royle

Consultant Haematologist

Dr Gordon Royle is a Consultant Haematologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Royle has made significant contributions to research, particularly in coagulation disorders and his research into dabigatran (an alternative oral anticoagulant to warfarin).

Dr Kirsty Marshall

Consultant Haematologist

Dr Marshall is new to the Counties Haematology team. She has taken on the PI role for two of the Multiple Myeloma studies and is working as a sub-investigator in most of the studies conducted by the team. She has a strong interest in research and is keen to expand her research portfolio.


Department Investigators

Dr Alex Kazemi

Clinical Head of the Intensive Care Unit

Dr Alex Kazemi is the Clinical Head of the Intensive Care Unit at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Kazemi has an interest in data science and complex applications of mathematical models to healthcare, health policy and science communication.

Dr Tony Williams

Clinical Director of the Acute Care

Dr Tony Williams is the Clinical Director of the Acute Care of Counties Manukau DHB and Head of Research at the Critical Care Complex at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Williams is a member of the New Zealand Perioperative Mortality Committee, while also involved in many ANZICS CTG trials.


Department Investigators

Dr David Holland

Clinical Director of Infection Services

Dr David Holland was appointed as Clinical Director of Infection Services in 2014 after working at Counties Manukau DHB as an Infectious Disease Physician (and microbiologist) since 2005. Dr Holland’s main areas of focus lie in the diagnosis, management, prevention and control of infectious diseases.


Department Investigators

Dr Ian Soosay

Clinical Director of Mental Health & Addiction Services

Dr Ian Soosay is the Clinical Director of Mental Health & Addiction Services at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Soosay has an interest in increasing research activities in the department, focusing on clinical trials for digital health applications with an aim to provide evidence based research outcomes that enable decision making regarding access and support in the provision of mental health services.


Department Investigators

Dr Michael Meyer

Consultant Paediatrician

Dr Michael Meyer is an active researcher and Consultant Paediatrician at the Kidz First Neonatal Care at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Meyer leads a number of grant funded research trials in neonatal care at Counties Manukau DHB and plays a pivotal role in developing neonatal equipment in collaboration with Fisher and Paykel.


Department Investigators


Department Investigators


Department Investigators

Dr Rasha Altaie

Consultant Opthalmologist

Dr Rasha Altaie is a Consultant Opthalmologist at Counties Manukau DHB as well as a Senior Lecturer with the University of Auckland. Dr Altaie has a strong interest in research, with a number of publications to her name and a particular interest in keratoconus.


Department Investigators

Dr Alpesh Patel

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Dr Alpesh Patel is an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Counties Manukau DHB specialising in spinal surgery. Dr Patel is working with Dr Simon Manners and Dr Bensy Mathew to establish a Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Research Unit in Auckland. The unit aims to conduct translational research in the field of spinal cord injury.

Dr Simon Manners

Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon

Dr Simon Manners is an Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Manners has an interest in all aspects of spinal pathology and treatment, both operative and non-operative. Dr Manners is currently working with MMCT to establish a Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Research Unit in Auckland alongside Dr Alpesh Patel and Dr Bensy Mathew.


Department Investigators

Dr Salil Nair

ORL Consultant

Dr Salil Nair is an ORL Consultant at both Counties Manukau and Auckland DHBs specialising in several areas of Rhinology. He manages all aspects of sinus diseases including endoscopic sinus surgery. He is involved in the regional endoscopic skull base surgery service and has an interest in lacrimal surgery. He holds an Honorary Associate Professor post in the Department of Surgery at the University of Auckland. 


Department Investigators

Dr Christine McIntosh

GP Liason - Child Health

Dr Christine McIntosh is the GP Liason - Child Health at Counties Manukau DHB, GP and Kidz First and University of Auckland researcher. Dr McIntosh has a special interest in Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy prevention.

Dr Jocelyn Neutze

Paediatrician and Emergency Physician

Dr Jocelyn Neutze, Fellow of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Paediatrics), is part of the PREDICT collaborative network for Australasia, which is internationally recognised as a leading research group. Dr Neutze has worked on a number of collaborative group trials.

Dr Rachel Webb

Paediatrician

Dr Rachel Webb is a Paediatrician at Counties Manukau and Auckland DHBs and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. Dr Webb has over 30 publications to date and has special interests in infectious diseases and rheumatic fever.


Department Investigators

Dr Jon Mathy

Consultant Plastic Surgeon

A/Prof Jon Mathy is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Counties Manukau DHB with clinical interests in cancer reconstruction, melanoma, and sarcoma. He serves and Clinical Director for Cancer Services at Counties Manukau Health. He is scientific advisory board member to the Auckland Regional tissue bank. He has active HRC funded research projects in cutaneous oncology and breast reconstruction. He welcomes opportunities to collaborate in translational research.


Department Investigators

Dr Stewart Hawkins

Interventional Radiologist

Dr Stewart Hawkins is an Interventional Radiologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Hawkins has a special interest in all areas of interventional radiology with US, CT and MR angiography.


Department Investigators

Dr Chris Hood

Clinical Director of Renal Services

Dr Chris Hood is the Clinical Director of Renal Services at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Hood trained as a renal specialist in both Auckland and Melbourne and shares his time equally in research & quality improvement and clinical medicine.

Dr Kalpa Jayanatha

Consultant Renal Physician

Dr Kalpa Jayanatha is a Consultant Renal Physician at Counties Manukau DHB and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. Dr Jayanatha has a special interest in renal transplantation, glomerulonephritis, and medical education.

Dr Hari Talreja

Consultant Renal Physician

Dr Hari Talreja is a Consultant Renal Physician at Counties Manukau DHB and is the Clinical Lead for Hypertension and Renal Transplantation. He has specialist training from Canada, and holds a masters degree in Clinical Effectiveness from Harvard. Dr Talreja led the development of the Hypertension Clinic at CMDHB and has a particular interest in this area.


Department Investigators

Dr Paul Dawkins

Consultant Respiratory Physician

Dr Paul Dawkins is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Counties Manukau DHB and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at University of Auckland. Dr Dawkins specialises in all areas of respiratory medicine including sleep disorded breathing. He has a specialist interest in airways disease, bronchiectasis and lung cancer.

Dr Stuart Jones

Clinical Head of Respiratory Department

Dr Stuart Jones is the Clinical Head and Respiratory Physician at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Jones holds a PhD from Otago University in the assessment of airway inflammation and specialises in general respiratory medicine with a particular interest in sleep medicine, asthma and airway inflammation.

Dr Conroy Wong

Respiratory and General Physician

Dr Conroy Wong is a Respiratory and General Physician at Counties Manakau DHB and Associate Professor at the University of Auckland. He has extensive experience in leading grant-funded and commercial clinical trials and his primary research interest is the evaluation of new treatment options for bronchiectasis. He also has research interests in pulmonary infections, asthma and COPD.


Department Investigators

Dr Sunil Kumar

Clinical Head of the Rheumatology Department

Dr Sunil Kumar is a Consultant Rheumatologist and Clinical Head of the Rheumatology Department at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Kumar has participated in 27 clinical trials as the Principal Investigator at Counties Manukau, in rheumatic conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, gout and others.

Dr Mark Sapsford

Consultant Rheumatologist

Dr Mark Sapsford is a Consultant Rheumatologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Sapsford returned to New Zealand in 2019, having completed a rheumatology research fellowship in Cambridge, UK. Dr Sapsford is involved in a number of on-going clinical trials in a range of rheumatic conditions.


Department Investigators

Dr Bensy Mathew

Spinal Rehabilitation Medicine Physician

Dr Bensy Mathew is a Spinal Rehabilitation Medicine Physician at the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit (ASRU), Counties Manukau DHB. ASRU is one of the two supra-regional spinal cord impairment rehabilitation services in New Zealand which provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary care for people with spinal cord impairment from the central North Island to the Far North. Dr Mathew is working with Mr Alpesh Patel and Mr Simon Manners to establish a Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Research Unit in Auckland. 


Department Investigators

Julena Ardern

Clinical Nurse Specialist

Julena Ardern is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Neonatal care at Counties Manukau DHB. Julena is the primary investigator on the golden hour study, which is investigating best practice in the first 60 minutes after birth.

Dr Sarah Corbett

Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician

Dr Sarah Corbett is a Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Corbett has a special interest in laparoscopic hysterectomy, treatment of endometriosis and ovarian cysts.

Dr Lynsey Hayward

Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician

Dr Lynsey Hayward is a Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at Counties Manukau DHB, specialising in urogynaecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery.

Dr Katherine Sowden

Clinical Lead for Gynaecology and Consultant Gynaecologist

Dr Katherine Sowden is the Clinical Lead for Gynaecology and a Consultant Gynaecologist at Counties Manukau DHB. Dr Sowden has a special interest in the management of premalignant gynaecological conditions and general gynaecology services.


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About Us

 

Aotearoa Clinical Trials is a fully integrated research unit based at Middlemore Hospital in the heart of South Auckland, New Zealand.

We perform biopharma and medical device clinical trials in partnership with all hospital departments focusing on the diseases and long term health conditions that affect our diverse community.

 

 

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