I am a professor of sociology in the School of Social and Cultural Studies at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. I am a medical sociologist and have undertaken research in many areas related to health and illness. My interest in cancer research started with a project that aimed to provide insight into why outcomes for cancer patients were different once people entered the health system. For that research we observed health team meetings where people diagnosed with cancer were discussed, we recorded consultations between health professionals and patients where treatment plans were considered, and we talked to people who had completed cancer treatment. This provided me with a very broad understanding of people’s cancer journeys. The current research aims to extend that, and I wanted to see what we can learn from those who have done very well following a cancer diagnosis.

I am Emeritus Professor of Social and Health Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand. I am a critical social scientist with broad research interests in health and illness, and especially in the everyday experience of health and illness, inequality and disadvantage, and qualitative research methodology, particularly innovative research practices. I have also research interests in medications in the home, health in the media, and food and health.

Chris Cunningham is from the Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa, Te Ātiawa and Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāparangi tribes of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

He is Professor of Māori & Public Health in the Research Centre for Hauora & Health at Massey University’s Wellington campus.

Originally training in Quantum Chemistry, he has been a health researcher for over twenty-five years.  Chris has a broad research portfolio covering public health and Māori health, with a focus on inequity, housing, longitudinal research and machine learning.

Chris has supervised over 50 PhD and post-doctoral candidates.

Current projects include Indoor Air Quality in NZ Schools, Indigenous Governance, Cultural Competency in Health Professional Education, Medications Use in Older Māori, Loneliness and Social Isolation, Exceptional Cancer Survivorship, Housing & Health and longitudinal research including Te Hoe Nuku Roa and Growing Up in New Zealand

Kia ora, I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, and co-director of the Social and Behavioural Research Unit and former director of the Cancer Society Research Collaboration.

I come from a diverse background that includes five years of experience as a mental health promoter in a Public Health Unit and five years of secondary school teaching. With qualifications in theology, English literature, religious studies, and public health, my research primarily focuses on qualitative research in the areas of health promotion, supportive care in cancer, assisted dying and spirituality in healthcare, using mixed methods research. I’ve published over 65 peer-reviewed papers and completed a Master's thesis on spirituality in New Zealand state schools and a PhD thesis on spirituality in end-of-life care. I’ve served as a past-president of the New Zealand Public Health Association and past Vice-Chair on the Board of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand. I’m also an Honorary Research Consultant for Meaningful Aging Australia and a member of the Global Network for Spirituality & Health. I collaborate with Hospice NZ on spirituality matters. My wife Sarah, our 15-year-old son Benji, and dog Milo help me to stay focused on ‘what matters most’. For more information visit the Otago University website.

Professor Alex Broom is Professor of Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Director of the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies at the University of Sydney. He is recognised as an international leader in sociology, with a specific interest in health, illness and care. His work takes a person-centred approach, qualitatively exploring the intersections of individual experience and social, political and economic context. He is particularly focused on the ways in which health is collectively produced through social practices and economic and political systems.

Liz Dennett is a specialist colorectal surgeon, the Clinical Director at Te Aho o Te Kahu (Cancer Control Agency), and an Associate Professor in Surgery at Otago University.