Dr Nikhil C. Munshi, MD

Dr. Munshi received his MD from Maharaja Sayjirao University, India, in 1984. He completed his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at SSG Hospital and Maharaja Sayjirao University, followed by fellowships at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and Indiana University Medical Center. In 2001, he joined Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is currently the Director of Basic and Correlative Science, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center.

Dr Piers Blombery​

Dr. Piers Blombery is a clinical and laboratory haematologist and the medical lead of the molecular
haematology laboratory. After beginning his haematology training in Melbourne, he completed his
training and worked as a consultant at University College London Hospital (UCLH) in the leukaemia/MDS service and the Specialised Integrated Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service. Along with a highly dedicated scientific team, he coordinates the provision of personalised therapy for patients with haematological malignancy at Peter MacCallum through comprehensive and tailored genomic assessment of blood cancer in the diagnostic laboratory. This work was pioneered in multiple myeloma and now extends to all types of haematological malignancy including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, indolent lymphoma, aggressive lymphoma and the full spectrum of myeloid malignancies. Clinically he works in the aggressive lymphoma service and provides a consultative service in personalised molecular medicine.

Dr Timothy Brighton
MBBS 1984 FRACP 1995  FRCPA 1995  MD 1999

Dr Timothy Brighton is currently a Consultant Haematologist at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. He is Clinical Director of New South Wales Health Pathology Haematology laboratory at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick Sydney. He is director of POWH Haemophilia Treatment centre. He is a member of HSANZ, ANZSBT and THANZ. He served on THANZ council for 6 years as Councillor and Treasurer (1999-2005) and was chair of THANZ Clinical Trials group. He also served on HSANZ council as Councillor and
Secretary (2012-2017). Tim has focused during his career on clinical and laboratory research especially in haemostasis and thrombosis. Main current clinical and research interests include platelet disorders, bleeding disorders, and the investigation and management of thrombosis including cancer-associated  thrombosis.

Professor Margaret Brimble​

Margaret Brimble holds the Chair of Organic Chemistry and is Director of Medicinal Chemistry at The University of Auckland. Her work sits at the interface of chemistry and medicine with focus on developing bioactive compounds from natural products including potential anticancer drugs. She is the recipient of several distinguished awards and this year was the first New Zealand woman to be elected a fellow to the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific academy, the Royal Society of London. She was also awarded the UK Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2018 Award in Cancer Therapy, for developing a novel innovative chemistry platform for the development of cancer vaccines.

​Dr Graeme Taylor

Graeme works as a general pathologist for Medlab South in Nelson and as a specialist lymphoma pathologist for Christchurch hospital and Southern Community laboratory in Wellington Hospital. He has a longstanding interest in haematopathology, which began when he was employed as a haematology registrar in Auckland hospital in 1995. Graeme tries to maintain a database of lymphoma cases diagnosed in the upper two-thirds of the South Island and the lower North Island for use as a teaching and research tool. Currently the database, which was started 5 years ago, contains around 1600 cases and is potentially
available to anyone with an interest in this field.

Associate Professor Mike Taylor

Mike’s research focuses on the interactions between animal (including human) “hosts” and associated microbial communities.
His group’s human microbiome research centres on the airway microbiota and roles of the gut microbiome in type 2 diabetes and autism. He has >90 publications and was a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in 2015. Mike is President of the NZ Microbiological Society, Co-Convenor of the NZ Microbial Ecology Consortium, and Board
Member of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.

Karen Nimmo - Nurses Keynote Speaker

Karen Nimmo is a clinical psychologist and writer based in Wellington, New Zealand. She specialises in
resilience, mind-body health and peak performance for sports and business. Karen is a regular media commentator on psychological topics. She writes a blog and is the author of two books: My Bum Looks Brilliant In This (the one true secret of lasting weight loss) and Fish Pie Is Worse Than Cancer, the story of her own family’s experience with cancer.

Morphology Workshop

Saturday 30th March 1400 – 1700, 
Rata Room, Waitemata Clinical Skills Centre (Whenua Pupuke) at North Shore Hospital.
The main focus is around high grade lymphoma primarily including the bone marrow.