Cancer specialists      

Dr Reuben Broom

Medical oncologist

BHB, MBChB, FRACP

Reuben is a Medical Oncologist specialising in breast cancer.

He graduated from the University of Auckland School of Medicine in 1999 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2006.

Between 2006 and 2008 he completed a clinical research fellowship at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada where he focused on breast and renal malignancies.

Reuben returned to New Zealand in 2008 and began working as a consultant at Auckland City and North Shore Hospitals. He is also an honorary senior clinical lecturer in oncology at the University of Auckland.

Reuben is an active researcher in breast cancer. He is an investigator on multiple phase II and III clinical trials.

Although Reuben is very much engaged with the biology of cancer and drug development, he prides himself on clear communication with patients and empowering them with the knowledge to make the decisions that are right for each individual.

Dr Mike McCrystal

Medical Oncologist

MD, FRACP

Dr McCrystal is a specialist oncologist specialising in breast and melanoma.

He graduated from the University of Auckland School of Medicine in 1987. He then completed an MD in cancer drug development in 2000.

Mike has worked predominately in Auckland, New Zealand where he has an interest in the genetics of melanoma and breast cancers. He has worked at Auckland Hospital Department of Clinical Oncology since 1999.

Dr Naera Waters

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, FRACP

Dr Naera Waters has trained as a generalist oncologist but has a special interest in the management and treatment of breast cancer.

Naera graduated from the University of Auckland Medical School in 2005 and trained in Medical Oncology at Auckland Hospital. In 2014 she presented research at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Scientific meeting on the validity of staging radiology in early breast cancer. She became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2016 and has subsequently commenced work as a specialist.

Naera brings to her work compassion, empathy, attention to detail and a strong focus on patient and family centred care. She also has interests in palliative care and symptom management, having spent time working in this area during her training.

Naera plans to undertake a research based fellowship with the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation in the near future as well as focussing on bringing up a young family.

Naera welcomes breast cancer referrals.

Dr Abbey Wrigley

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, FRACP, MMedSci

Dr Abbey Wrigley is a Medical Oncologist who treats a variety of cancer types, and has a particular focus on the treatment of breast, lung, and gastro-intestinal malignancies. Abbey is a practicing Medical Oncologist at Canopy Cancer Care at our Warkworth, North Shore and Epsom clinics.

She graduated from Otago University Medical School in 2006 and became a fellow of The Royal College of Physicians in 2014 after completing her advanced training in medical oncology.

In 2014 she received the inaugural NZ Breast Cancer Foundation Clinical Oncology Fellowship, supporting her research at The University of Auckland. She graduated with a Masters of Medical Science with first degree honours in 2017.

Her research thesis examined the genetic changes found in early breast cancer. Abbey is a compassionate, driven, and approachable oncologist. 

Dr Lisa Dawson

Medical Oncologist

BSc, MBBS, FRACP

Dr Dawson is a general Medical Oncologist working in Northland with a special interest in breast cancer, GU and melanoma.

Lisa graduated from St. Georges Medical School London in 1994 with a BSc(Hon) and MB BS.

She moved to NZ in 1995 with her NZ born husband.  She then went on to train in internal medicine gaining entrance to the Royal Australasian College of Medicine in 2010.

After advanced training in Medical Oncology she took up a position as Medical Oncologist and Clinical Director of the Cancer and Blood services in Whangarei. In 2015 the department won an excellence award for the development of their model of care.

She believes in carefully assessing all the issues that a patient and family face before implementing a personalised management plan.

Lisa is married with 6 children. Her family enjoy spending their spare time sailing.

Dr Michelle Head

Medical Oncologist

BHB, MBChB, FRACP

Dr Michelle Head is trained as a general oncologist, with a special interest in a number of tumour types, including breast, head & neck and gastrointestinal cancers. She also has an active interest and welcomes referrals for patients with melanoma and lymphoma.

Dr Head was raised in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region and attended Katikati College. She graduated from Auckland University in 2002 and completed Medical Oncology training in 2011, having worked in a number of New Zealand centres.

Dr Head has been an investigator on more than 20 clinical trials, and has published in peer reviewed journals. She also works at the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, where she has assisted in protocol development in the Medical Oncology Unit. She is a Clinical Teaching Supervisor for senior nursing staff and involved in teaching of junior doctors and medical students.

Dr Head has a strong interest in the psychosocial and survivorship aspects of oncology, and was a founding member of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Psycho-Oncology Forum.

Outside of work, Dr Head can often be found running with her border collies.

Dr Joanna Jones

Medical Oncologist

BHB, MBChB, Clin Dip Pall Med, FRACP

Dr Joanna Jones is a Medical Oncologist with a special interest in Breast and Gynaecological cancers.

Joanna graduated from the University of Auckland Medical School in 2005. In 2009 she completed a Clinical Diploma of Palliative Medicine and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2013.

After graduation Joanna worked in Auckland before moving to Australia to complete her specialist training in medical oncology. She trained at many of the large tertiary and regional centres in South East Queensland including Royal Brisbane Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital and Mater Adult Hospital. In 2012 she was awarded a fellowship to attend the ACORD protocol development workshop. Her research focussed on symptom management for advanced gynaecological cancers.

In 2014, Joanna returned to New Zealand with her husband and young family to take up a position as Medical Oncologist at Tauranga Hospital.

Joanna combines clear communication and a patient focussed approach to care. Compassion, empathy and attention to symptom management are all integral parts of Joanna’s approach.

Dr William Thompson

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, FRACP

Will is a medical oncologist who treats a variety of cancer types. He has a special interest in breast and gastrointestinal cancers. He also welcomes referrals for those with neuroendocrine tumours, melanoma, lung cancers, and head and neck cancers.

Will trained at the University of Auckland, graduating in 2009, before working in Auckland and London. He completed his specialty training in Auckland and Tauranga before taking a medical oncology consultant role in Tauranga. In addition to clinical work he is involved in both teaching and research, as an investigator or sub-investigator in a number of local and international trials.

Will lives in Tauranga with his wife and two young sons. They love exploring the outdoors, the beach, surfing and mountain biking.

Will prides himself on communicating well. He is passionate about providing quality care that integrates available clinical evidence with the goals and values unique to a person and their family.

Dr Jody Jordan

Medical Oncologist

MD, FRACP

Dr Paula Barlow

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, FRACP

Dr Prashanth Hari Dass

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, FRACP

Prashanth is a Medical Oncologist based in Rotorua.  His goal is to provide specialised oncology care to the patients in the Rotorua lakes region in a timely manner. He provides cancer treatment advice, and up to date cancer treatment including unfunded treatment options that have been showed to benefit patients.

In 2016 Prashanth completed a Clinical Research Fellowship in Medical Oncology in Late Phase Cancer Clinical Trials at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia followed by a Clinical Research fellowship in Medical Oncology Early Phase Cancer Clinical Trials, Churchill Hospital, University of Oxford, United Kingdom in 2017.

His long term goals are to develop a cancer clinical trial unit in Rotorua in future with the hope to reduce barriers and improve access to investigational cancer treatment for patients locally.

Dr Alistair Wickham

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, MRCP, FRACP, DTM&H

Alistair is a Medical Oncologist based in Rotorua.  He is a general oncologist with a special interest in genitourinary cancers but enjoys treating a wide variety of cancers, including breast cancer.   

He graduated from Leicester Warwick Medical School in 2006 and spent time working as a junior doctor both in the UK and NZ before settling permanently in NZ in 2013.  He worked in Oncology both in the UK and NZ before undertaking his formal oncology training in the Bay of Plenty and Auckland.  At the end of his training, he completed a clinical fellowship in GU and lung cancer at with the Auckland Clinical Trials Team. 

Dr Edmond Ang

Medical Oncologist

Dr Edmond Ang is a NZ trained medical oncologist who currently works at the Jim Carney Cancer Treatment Centre, Whangarei Base Hospital and Canopy Cancer Care Whangarei. He has been a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians of Ireland since 2012 and a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians since 2022. 

After gaining broad clinical experience in multiple medical subspecialities in NZ and abroad, Edmond pursued advanced training in medical oncology at Palmerston North and Auckland. In 2018, he was made the Breast Cancer Foundation Clinical Research Fellow at Auckland City Hospital. There he served as an investigator in numerous novel anti-cancer therapies and experimental studies to reduce treatment related toxicities.  His focus on research has been recognized through several peer review publications and awards, including the PHARMAC Emerging Investigator of the Year Award in 2019. 

Edmond has a special interest in advancing cancer care in the elderly and is currently the National Representative of SIOG (International Society of Geriatric Oncology) for New Zealand. Through an award by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), he completed a technical fellowship in Geriatric Oncology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia. Edmond also enjoys teaching and has a diploma in medical education from the University of Cardiff. He is a passionate communicator around the topic of cancer care and has spoken in numerous local and international conferences, including at the opening ceremony of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in 2019.  

Edmond lives with his GP wife and three young boys. He is a published author and is currently working on a pictorial book to help children understand the meaning of cancer. 

Dr Daisy Wing-san Mak

Medical Oncologist

MBChB, FRCP(Edin), FRACP, FHKCP, FHKAM(Medicine)

Dr Mak is a Medical Oncologist specialising in patients with thoracic cancers, including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and thymic tumours.  She also has a special interest in breast cancer.

Daisy completed her undergraduate medical education in Hong Kong in 2006, and obtained fellowship in medical oncology in 2013 (FHKCP, FHKAM).  She then completed further training in advanced internal medicine and haematology.  In 2018, she pursued training in lung cancer in Royal Marsden Hospital as a clinical research fellow, and was exposed to the cutting edge research, and worked alongside some of the top lung cancer experts in the world.

Returning to Hong Kong, Daisy worked at one of the largest tertiary centres, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as an associate consultant, and pioneered the comprehensive lung cancer programme aimed at reducing workflow barriers and streamlining patient care. 

In 2019, she moved to Christchurch, New Zealand where she worked in Christchurch Hospital treating breast, upper gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancer, on top of lung cancer and lymphoma.  She then joined Auckland City Hospital as a consultant medical oncologist in 2020 and was awarded her FRACP in 2020, and FRCP(Edin) in 2022.  

Daisy’s focus is on incorporating cutting-edge information into patient care, fostering strong communication with both patients and their families, and establishing aligned and prioritized goals. She is fluent in English and Cantonese, with a functional proficiency in Mandarin.

When not working, she plays the piano, enjoys reading, tramping and spending time with family and friends.

Anna Ogilvy

Specialist Oncology Nurse - Breast