Full name: Central Health and Disability Ethics Committee
Short name: Central HDEC
Abbreviation: CEN
OHRP(external link) ref: IRB00008712
Please note it is inappropriate to contact committee members directly regarding HDEC matters.
Download Central Committee Terms of Reference [DOCX, 35 KB]
No meetings were postponed or cancelled due to inability to make quorum.
Membership category: Lay (Consumer/Community Perspectives)
Date of appointment: 22 May 2020
Current term expires: 22 May 2023
Helen is currently the Chair of the Central HDEC, a Member of the Medical Sciences Council, a Trustee of the Cranford Hospice Trust, Chairman of the New Zealand Singing School, and the owner of the Kilgaren Farming Partnership. She completed a Bachelor of Science at Massey University, a Certificate in Company Direction through the New Zealand Institute of Directors and is a Chartered member of the Institute. Helen was previously a Director and Chair of Health Hawkes Bay, Guardian/Kaitiaki of the Turnbull Library, Director of Unison Networks Ltd and Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. Helen is also Chair of the Central Hawke’s Bay Consumers Power Trust, Past President of the Waipawa Musical and Dramatic Club, and a member of the Waipawa Municipal Theatre Refurbishment Trust. Finance Audit and Risk has been a major part all these roles with the position of FAR Chair in most.
Membership category: Lay (Consumer/Community Perspectives)
Date of appointment: 22 May 2020
Current term expires: 22 May 2023
Sandy has her own consulting company and also works on a voluntary basis with various community groups assisting with policy and procedure, writing programmes and evaluations, clinical supervision of staff, business plans, and strategic planning. Her qualifications include a MA in Management (Massey), a MA in Criminal Justice (Victoria), a Certificate in Clinical Supervision (CIT), along with post graduate qualifications in Dispute Resolution (Massey) and Human Resources (Victoria). She has also worked with offenders, youth at risk, and in the area of Māori mental health. She has a lifelong addiction to learning and loves to travel and learn about different cultures and history. She is Ngā Puhi and the proud mother of three and nana of one, and an Associate Member of AMINZ.
Membership category: Lay (Law/Moral Reasoning)
Date of appointment: 20 May 2017
Current term expires: 20 May 2020
Cordelia ((Otago), LLM(Hons) and PhD (VUW)), is a Barrister and Solicitor and is currently Associate Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) – Investigations. She was previously a Specialist Senior Legal Advisor to the HDEC. She took up that position in 2009 after working as a Senior Legal Adviser to the Bioethics Council working at the Ministry for the Environment. Earlier, she was for many years a law lecturer at Wellington Polytechnic and then Massey University at Wellington. She is currently the New Zealand Law Society’s National Course Director of the Legal Executive Programme. Cordelia is the author of the fifth and sixth editions of Forsyth’s Outline of the Law Relating to Trusts Wills Executors & Administrators which is the textbook recommended by the New Zealand Law Society for Estates Law and Practice. The sixth edition was published in 2009.
Membership category: Non-Lay (Intervention Studies)
Date of appointment: 22 May 2020
Current term expires: 22 May 2023
Patries is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Radiation Therapy, University of Otago, Wellington, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Malaghan Institute. She completed a PhD in cancer cell biology at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research/Otago University in Wellington (2006), a Master of Philosophy (microbiology) at Waikato University in Hamilton (1984), and a Master of Science (biology) at Nijmegen University (Netherlands) in 1982. Patries conducts cell based biomedical research at the Malaghan Institute as well as clinical trials that investigate better management options for acute side effects caused by radiation therapy in various hospitals in New Zealand and overseas.
She is the Chair of the Animal Ethics Committee at the University of Otago, Wellington, and joined the Central HDEC as a non-lay member in July 2012.
Membership category: Lay (ethical and moral reasoning)
Date of appointment: December 2021
Current term expires: December 2024
Jessie is a researcher and academic who has considerable experience in both medico-legal research and bioethics. Jessie is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculties of Psychological Medicine and Law at the University of Otago, where she has also been a Researcher.
Some of Jessie's international roles include as an analyst at the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC and as a Research Associate at German Parliament. Jessie is a Trustee and the Vice Chair of the New Zealand Brain Tumour Trust.
Jessie has co-authored a book on the legal and ethical implications of whole genome sequencing in pre-implantation genetics and has worked on the review of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act.
Membership category: Non-lay (observational studies)
Date of appointment: December 2021
Current term expires: December 2024
Albany is an experienced academic with a background in research and bioethics. Albany is currently employed as an Assistant Research Fellow in the Centre for Pacific Health – Va’a o Tautai, at the University of Otago. They previously held a range of roles at the University of Otago including Academic Coordinator for the Pacific Islands Research and Student Support Unit, Assistant Research Fellow in the Bioethics Centre, and Bioethics Tutor.
Albany is undertaking their PhD under a Pacific Health Research PhD Scholarship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, is a community member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal and a member of the Pasefika Advisory Board for Otago Polytechnic.
Membership category: Non-Lay (Health/Disability Service Provision)
Date of appointment: July 2022
Current term expires: July 2025
Patricia is a Registered Nurse of over 25 years with a Master of Nursing and is a Chartered Member of Institute of Directors. Previously Patricia founded a specialist rangatahi led health service and continues to be a health entrepreneur. Currently, Patricia holds the role Deputy Chair for Burnett Foundation Aotearoa and is a Business Coach and strategy facilitator. Originally from the UK, Aotearoa has been home for Patricia for over 18 years. Patricia is passionate about outcomes for communities and is privileged to be appointed to Central HDEC as a non-lay member since July 2022.
