Head and Neck Cancer Foundation Aotearoa
Promoting prevention, early detection, and improved treatment of patients with cancer in the head and neck area.
Head and Neck Cancer Foundation Aotearoa
Promoting prevention, early detection, and improved treatment of patients with cancer in the head and neck area.
Head and Neck Cancer Foundation Aotearoa
About Us
Our Mission
To improve outcomes of patients affected by cancer in the head and neck area by raising funds to support research facilities and researchers to better understand these cancers with the ultimate aim of developing more effective treatment.
Message from the Chair
As a surgeon treating patients with cancer of the head and neck for more than 20 years, I have seen incremental improvements in the management of affected patients, as a result of basic and clinical research.
Multidisciplinary care that provides coordinated treatment offers the opportunity for optimal preservation of the quality of life and improved cure. However, more needs to be done as the currently available treatment remains harsh and the cure rates have only improved marginally over the last 40 years.
It is only through perseverance in research that better strategies for prevention and early detection, and more effective treatments can be realised.
Through the Foundation, it is the mission of the ANZHNCS to promote such research, for the benefit of our patients.
It is with great pleasure that I invite you to join us and help us achieve our goals by donating to this worthy cause. I thank you for your generosity.
Swee Tan ONZM MBBS PhD FRACS
Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon and Research Scientist
Past-President, ANZHNCS
Our Vision
To promote prevention, early detection, and improved treatment of patients with cancer in the head and neck area.
For More Information
For more information on the above or other ideas on how you can help fund-raise for the Foundation please contact Nancy Gee, Secretary of the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation Aotearoa of the Australian & New Zealand Head and Neck Cancer Society.
Phone 0800 376 554
Email office@headandneckcancer.org.nz
Website www.headandneckcancer.org.nz
Post PO Box 10048, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Please Donate
Please help us promote prevention, early detection, and improved treatment of patients with cancer in the head and neck area.
Click here to donateOur Trustees
Dr Robert Allison MBChB, DCH, FRACS
Dr Allison is an otolaryngologist/head and neck surgeon at Christchurch Hospital as well as in private practice with an interest in head and neck surgery. He completed surgical training (FRACS) in New Zealand before doing Fellowships in Head and Neck Cancer Surgery in the United Kingdom and The Netherland. He is a Past Examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and is current President of the New Zealand Society of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.
Dr John Chaplin MBChB, FRACS
Dr Chaplin is a head and neck cancer surgeon based in Auckland. He trained in New Zealand, New York and Sydney. He is a key member of the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Team based at Auckland City Hospital and he has extensive experience in managing patients with head and neck cancers and expertise in reconstruction of complex defects following the removal of tumours. Dr Chaplin is the Secretary for the Head and Neck Group of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and is a Founding Member of the ANZHNCS. He is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Auckland, is involved research, and has published extensively.
Ross Martin BCA, FCA
Mr Martin is a company director and a passionate New Zealander who lives in Wellington. He believes all New Zealanders should have ready access to quality healthcare. He is a chartered accountant and is the Chair of Wellington Free Ambulance and is a trustee of Life Flight Trust, Wellington’s rescue helicopter.
Dr Andrew Macann MBChB, FRANZCR
Dr Macann is the Clinical Leader for Head and Neck Cancer Service in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Auckland City Hospital. He was the Trial Chairman for the RadioHUM clinical trial involving 11 centres in Australia and New Zealand which assessed the role of domiciliary humidification in mitigating symptoms associated with inflammation of the mouth and throat during radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. This study was administered by the Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG), which runs clinical trials in cancer involving radiotherapy. Dr Macann co-chairs the Quality of Life working party of TROG.
Dr Swee Tan ONZM, MBBS, FRACS, PhD (Chair)
Dr Tan is a head and neck cancer surgeon and research scientist. He is the Founder and Director of the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute based in Wellington. Dr Tan was the Past President of the ANZNHCS and is a member of the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer teams at the Wellington Regional Hospital and Palmerston North Hospital. He is the Founder and Inaugural Chair of the NZRF of the ANZHNCS.
Dr Cathy Stephenson MBChB, MRCGP, DCH, DOG, FRNZCGP
Dr Cathy Stephenson is a Wellington GP and health columnist, and mother to three teenagers. In her 25 years’ experience working in primary health, she has witnessed first-hand the devastation that a diagnosis of cancer can bring to patients and their whanau, and is passionate about supporting and enabling research that will lead to improved patient outcomes.
Cathy has post-graduate qualifications in Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and has spent many years working as a Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiner. She is actively involved in teaching and mentoring others, and has a Senior Clinical Lecturer role at Otago University. She is the Clinical Lead for the Royal College of General Practitioners, and is also on the Board of STIEF, the STI Education Foundation.
Cathy can be contacted on cathy.stephenson@rnzcgp.org.nz