Our
People

Ian is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Waikato Clinical Campus, University of Auckland Medical School, and a surgeon at Waikato Hospital specialising in the treatment of breast cancer since 1989.

Ian  Campbell and Jenni Scarlet founded the Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust.

Ian is an accomplished researcher, holding positions of responsibility and influence in many professional organisations designing and running clinical trials. He has been involved with more than 30 international clinical trials, leading several for Australia and New Zealand.

Ian has also been a co-investigator on numerous studies from the Breast Surgeons of Australia and NZ (Breast SurgANZ) Quality Audit. He has actively contributed to the Australia and NZ Breast Cancer Trials Group through trial work and has been on their Scientific Advisory Committee since 1992. Ian was elected New Zealand Director on the ANZBCTG Board from 2001-2014. He has co-supervised Sanjeewa Seneviratne for his PhD Thesis on breast cancer outcomes for Waikato women based on the Waikato Breast Cancer Register.

Ian has a passion for seeing research put into clinical best practice, and to this end, he has chaired the NZ Management of Early Breast Cancer Guidelines Group from 2007 to 2009, overseeing the development and publication of these guidelines. He currently chairs the NZ Breast Cancer Working Group which developed the NZ Standards of Service Provision for Breast Cancer. He has been the New Zealand representative on the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Breast Section from 2002-2011 and a founding member of the Executive of Breast SurgANZ and their audit subcommittee.

Ian has dedicated his career to evidence based best practice and he never lets it rest!

In 2013 he was honoured as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his services to breast cancer patients.

When he is relaxing you will find Ian spending time with family or out fishing – his other passion.

Caro is driven with a passion for people, life, business and hospitality.

Her professional development to support her trustee role includes: Director and Registered Financial Adviser of Caro & Co Insurance Specialists; courses in strategic planning; Institute of Directors governance course; business management training; member of NZFAA; Waikato Dio Board Trustee (9 years); and a member of global organisation MDRT (4 years).

Caro’s insurance practice is in its 14 year and specialises in the shareholder/buy sell/key person area, with a mix of personal, business and farming clients and previously sponsored Women in Dairying for nine years. Caro & Co have supported the Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust for 12 years.

In her personal life Caro and her partner Hugh converted Ravenswood Manor in Karapiro to a boutique B&B and attract international and national tourists; plus guests for corporate, sporting and wedding events. Community roles include: Neighbourhood Watch coordinator; member of Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee and Optimum Group.

Caro’s personal interests include gym; tennis; walking; dragon boating; cooking; wine tasting, travel and reading. Her three adult children remind me where my heart is always.

Debbie Gisby has been with Graham Brown & Co Limited since 2001, and specialises in commercial operations and not-for-profits. Her background and experience in successful business management, and management accounting means she can offer not only tax advice, but also practical business solutions at a grass roots level.

Debbie became involved with Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust as a trustee and as treasurer.

Marion is a Consultant Medical Oncologist from Waikato Hospital and is passionate about improving breast cancer care and promoting access to high quality breast cancer clinical trials. She has been, or is, Principal Investigator for multiple international breast cancer clinical trials.

Amongst her committee memberships, Marion is a very active member of Breast Cancer Trials Australia and New Zealand, including the Breast Cancer Trials Scientific Advisory Committee and Systemic Therapies Subcommittee.  She is Chair of the Midland Cancer Network Breast Group, and Chair of the New Zealand Breast Cancer Special Interest Group.  

Marion is a member of the Waikato Breast Cancer Register Executive Group. She is currently Principal Investigator for a study investigating metastatic behaviour and outcomes of different breast cancer subtypes. This study will analyse data from the Waikato and Auckland Breast Cancer Registers.

Margaret Comer having recently retired after 30 years of continuous service as Sponsorship and Community Liaison Executive at Gallagher NZ, is finding enjoyment in spending more time with those closest to her, dipping into a good book, a glass of wine and time in the garden. Margaret has been involved with Waikato Breast Cancer Trust as a Trustee since 2010 and is a breast cancer survivor.

Jude comes from a teaching background and has a life- long interest in education. Her qualifications are; D Phil, M Ed, B ED, Dip Ed, Dip Tchg. At Waikato University she was involved with teaching masters and doctoral students and had research involvement in many research projects over two decades. Jude became a Senior Research Fellow.

Jude’s board experiences include serving on several school boards of trustees as both a board member and chairperson. She is currently on the board of Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. Sport; especially netball; is close to her heart, as she believes netball is a game that offers girls and women unique opportunities to learn, be healthy and form strong bonds with others.

Jude is drawn to research relating to women’s health. As a breast cancer survivor, she is acutely interested in any research pertaining to breast cancer. She understands how difficult it is to secure funding for research. She looks forward to working with the trustees on the Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust and hopes that her knowledge, skills and experiences will be beneficial. 

Jude is married to Jake and lives in Cambridge. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.

Dani is a public relations and communications professional and is co-director with her husband Chris of their consultancy business, Dynamic Media.

Her background is in media, having been an award-winning journalist and editor for almost 20 years. It was working in community news that she developed a strong sense of community spirit and now enjoys giving back to charitable organisations that are close to her heart.

Having close family and friends diagnosed with breast cancer and having lost her first husband, Clinton, to brain cancer, Dani is passionate about supporting both the Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust as a trustee and the Brain Tumour Support Trust in a pro bono capacity.

Dani is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Waikato Chamber of Commerce.

Her personal interests include cooking, F45, reading, and enjoying family time at Waihi Beach.

Jenni completed a post graduate qualification in research and this, combined with her experience as an oncology nurse, led to her taking on a position as research nurse at the Breast Care Centre, Waikato Hospital.

Jenni considers herself very fortunate in her professional life to be able to make a difference with extending women’s lives after a breast cancer diagnosis. With the loss of her own mother from breast cancer, she knows only too well that for every woman diagnosed there are also family members and loved ones who are affected. She remains determined that, along with her colleagues, other families will have their mothers around for a long time and that through research, Waikato women will receive the best care possible.

Jenni is one of the founding members of the WBCRT. She is a member of the Australia New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group and was recipient of the Group’s inaugural Data Manager award (2008) to acknowledge outstanding commitment by a clinical trial coordinator/research nurse.

Heather is a registered nurse and one of the research nurses for the Trust. She is responsible for coordinating international clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.

Heather trained as an enrolled nurse during the late 1970s and worked in a variety of roles over the years, in nursing and farming. She then completed a degree in nursing, and became a registered nurse in 1999. From there she worked in mental health, inpatient haematology, oncology, and palliative care. She has learnt a lot about different cancers and how they affect people. She has journeyed alongside many cancer patients and has had the opportunity to help make a difference in the final stages of some of their lives.

Having had a mother go through cancer, and her own cancer diagnosis several years ago, gives her an understanding of what people go through when diagnosed.

In her spare time she enjoys walking or jogging around different areas of New Zealand, kayaking, hanging out with grandchildren, or having fun developing a garden with partner Lee at their new home.

Rachel graduated with a Masters of Social Science specialising in population statistics. She worked for 10 years in the UK Pharmaceutical industry as a database specialist before returning to New Zealand to use these skills at the Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust, to coordinate and manage the Waikato Breast Cancer register database.

Her main role is to research and enter breast cancer patients diagnosed in the Waikato region into the register, ensure high quality data entry into the register by other team members, manage annual follow-up reviews, and extract data for breast cancer analysis.

She also works alongside three other regional data managers (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) to provide researchers and clinicians a rich resource of New Zealand breast cancer data.

Kate has worked the last 14 years for the BreastScreen Aotearoa Programme in the Midland region. The first two years was with the call centre for BreastScreen Midland, and then 12 years as Data Coordinator.

Kate therefore brings to her Data Support role for the Waikato Breast Cancer Register an extensive knowledge of breast cancer diagnosis and treatments.

Melissa is a general surgery trainee currently studying towards a PhD through the University of Auckland supervised by Associate Professor Campbell. Her research interests are in breast cancer epidemiology and clinical trials. Melissa’s thesis is on the impacts of comorbidity on breast cancer treatment and outcomes, using data from the Auckland and Waikato breast cancer registers. Melissa is originally from the Waikato and has recently settled in Cambridge following several years of clinical work at various hospitals around New Zealand.

Jenny is passionate about telling stories that enable people to connect with the work of the Waikato Breast Cancer Research Trust.

With seven years’ experience in marketing and communications, Jenny joined our trust in May 2019 to raise awareness in the Waikato of the work we do, the funds needed to enable the Waikato Breast Cancer Register to be maintained and clinical trials and research to be undertaken as well as sharing the story of our yellow button.

Jenny also works for Waikato charitable trust, Insight Endometriosis part time in raising their profile and communicating with their stakeholders and is an active member of her local La Leche League group and volunteers as the treasurer.

Donna joined our team in October 2019 as PA for Dr Ian Campbell (WBCRT Chair, Breast & General Surgeon and Associate Professor), and assist with admin duties for our team.

Donna has a health and science background and many years’ experience as a Research Coordinator working in Interventional Cardiology initially, then as a Senior Research Coordinator for the Vascular Interventional Research Unit at Auckland Hospital. Donna also has a background in Pharmacy and Teaching Support Work specialising in Dementia care.

Donna values the positive impact research has on people’s lives, and values working with like-minded people who are innately motivated to achieve better health outcomes for all people.