Who we are
Trustees
Professor Martin Than, MBBS, FACEM
Martin is Director of Emergency Medicine research at Christchurch in New Zealand. He has done additional postgraduate training in Evidence Based Healthcare and has a strong interest in Evidence Based Diagnosis and has tutored at The Centre for EBM in Oxford. He works mainly at the Emergency Department of Christchurch Public Hospital as an Emergency Medicine Specialist and is Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Otago. He is one of the most published emergency medicine physicians in Australasia.
Martin was the principal investigator of the 3,500 patient study ASPECT study, involving 9 countries in the Asia-Pacific region (published in The Lancet) and an RCT of a 2-hour diagnostic protocol for possible cardiac chest pain in the ED under publication in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Martin was the winner of the inaugural Beaven Medal for excellence in Health Service Delivery research. He holds a Health Research Council of New Zealand fellowship for the investigation of cardiovascular disease in the Emergency Department. He is a member of an international Federation for clinical chemistry expert task-force on “Education in Cardiovascular Biomarkers.” which aims to produce educational materials for their use of high sensitivity troponins by clinicians and laboratorians in the clinical practice. Martin is a strong believer in having a close working relationship between the ED, and other healthcare providers. Martin has also received a Decoration for Bravery by the Commonwealth of Australia, The Surf Lifesaving Australia Meritorious Award for Bravery and The Royal Humane Society of Australia Bronze Medallion.
Professor Michael Ardagh, MBChB, DCH, FACEM
Mike Ardagh was New Zealand’s first Professor of Emergency Medicine. He works for the University of Otago, Christchurch as Professor of Emergency Medicine, and for the Canterbury District Health Board as an Emergency Medicine Specialist in the Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department. His university duties include teaching medical students and contributing to research projects. In addition he works for the Ministry of Health, New Zealand, as the National Clinical Director of Emergency Department Services. This role is mostly associated with improving the quality of acute care delivered in the hospitals of New Zealand.
In the past Mike has served on committees of the Medical Council of New Zealand and as an officer of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. He was awarded the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) honour for services to Emergency Medicine.
Dr Paul Gee, MBChB, FACEM
Paul Gee is an Emergency Medicine Specialist at Christchurch Hospital and a Clinical Lecturer for University of Otago.
He did his undergrad training in Auckland and completed his specialist training in Christchurch, qualifying in 1999. He later worked in Australia and the UK to broaden his experience.
Paul's interests are toxicology research and technology. He is a recognised expert in synthetic recreational drugs and has published research on BZP, DMAA, cannabinoids, NBOMes and paracetamol poisoning. Paul won a grant in 2006 from the National Drug Policy Unit to further his research.
Paul also won an Award from Health Emergency Management New Zealand in 2004 for developing Hazardous Materials response plans for local hospitals. He led a team that won the CDHB Systems Innovation Award in 2005 for a wireless communication project and they were finalists at the National Health Innovation Awards.
Paul served ten years on an Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) Examination Committee and he was Director of Emergency Medicine Training at Christchurch Hospital for nine years. He has been a trustee of the Emergency Care Foundation since 2012.
Dr Laura Joyce MBChB, FACEM, BMedSc(Hons), MMedEd
Laura Joyce is an Emergency Medicine Specialist at Christchurch Hospital, and Senior Lecturer for University of Otago. Laura was Director of Emergency Medicine Training in Christchurch Emergency Department for six years, and is on a number of committees with the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM). She is on the board of directors for Advanced Paediatric Life Support New Zealand (APLS NZ).
Laura’s interests include trauma, paediatrics, mental health, medical education and how we can implement and imbed next-generations technologies within clinical pathways to improve patient care.
Bill Dwyer, LLB (Hons), B.Ed
Specialising in Corporate & Commercial law, Bill has been a managing partner at a Christchurch law firm, was general counsel at Solid Energy and holds several company directorships.
With a legal career spanning 30 years in Auckland, London, and Christchurch, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Emergency Care Foundation.
Other Team Members
Professor Dr John W Pickering BSc(Hons), PhD, BA(Hons), MRSN
John is a scientist with a long-ago education in physics. This began with the application of physics in dermatology and plastic surgery through the use of lasers in medicine, in particular where he helped develop the use of lasers to remove birthmarks. He then spent a more than decade in voluntary work or
working with international students in higher education. He returned to academic science with the University of Otago Christchurch in 2007. Since then he has advanced the diagnostic methods to detect acute kidney injury – a seldom heard of, but highly prevalent syndrome which affects 3-5% of all hospitalized patients and one-third of all ICU patients. It leads to longer stays and greater mortality.
Since 2014, the majority of his time is in research to discover and translate into clinical practice diagnostic protocols in the emergency department, particularly for patients presenting with chest pain and the possibility of a heart attack. This latter research is sponsored by a Senior Research Fellowship jointly provided by the Emergency Care Foundation, Canterbury Medical Research Foundation, and the Canterbury District Health Board.
John also writes a blog as “Kidney-punch” on Sciblogs.co.nz through which he likes to present in as friendlier manner as possible the results of his research and occasionally comment about other science matters.
Alieke Dierckx
Alieke joined ECF in 2012 to undertake the administration and coordination of a range of its activites. In addition she works closely with the Emergency Department in coordinating funding applications, staffing and regulatory requirements for a variety of research projects. Alieke also coordinates the New Zealand Emergency Medicine Network which has a strong link to the Emergency Care Foundation.
Other Contributors
We thank Matthew Yates, a Director of PwC in Christchurch, whose dedication in taking care of the Emergency Care Foundation's finances and accounting is much appreciated.
We also gratefully acknowledge the support of previous trustees Claire Evans, Stephen Jeffery and Scott Pearson.
