Our People
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, ēngari he toa takitini
“Success is not the work of one, but the work of many”
Mātai Team
Dr Samantha Holdsworth
Chief Executive & Research Director
Leigh Potter
Kaiwhakahaere / Chief Operating Officer
Dr Daniel Cornfeld
Clinical Lead
Jeanette Lepper
Writing & Media Specialist
Paul Condron
MRI Charge Technologist
Taylor Emsden
MRI Technologist
Davidson Taylor
Senior Administrator & Kaiārahi Tikanga (Cultural Advisor)
Dr Patrick McHugh
Community Health Liason
Dr Gil Newburn
Senior Clinical Fellow
Dr Haribalan Kumar
Senior Research Engineer
Bree Allan
Marketing & Events
Dr Eryn Kwon
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Maryam Tayebi
Research Fellow
Dr Josh McGeown
Senior Research Fellow
Tuterangi Nepe-Apatu
Research Coordinator
Dr Mark Griffin
Senior Industry Fellow
Dr Soroush Safaei
Senior Research Fellow
Wendy Mohi
Research Associate
Dr Saralyn MacKenzie
Clinical Liaison
Dr Loxlan Kasa
Research Fellow
Danielle Wilson
Finance Manager
Dr William Peters
MedTech & Arts Officer
Lisa Bates MNZM
Philanthropy Director
Rickie-Lee Lawton
Receptionist / Administrator
Honorary Appointments
Dr Mark Bydder
Senior Research Fellow
William Schierding
Senior Research Fellow
Dr Ho-Fung Chan
Research Fellow
Dr Catherine Shi
Senior Research Fellow
Principal Investigators
Associate Professor Miriam Scadeng
Lead Principal Investigator
Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor Justin Fernandez
Principal Investigator
Dr Vickie Shim
Principal Investigator
Gina Waters
Principal Investigator
Dr Graham Wilson
Principal Investigator
Dr Jesse Gale
Principal Investigator
Dr Geoffrey Handsfield
Principal Investigator
Board of Trustees
Ngā Māngai Māori - Voices of Māori (Māori Advisory Board)
Research Advisory Board
Scientific Advisory Board
Affiliate faculty advisors
Alan Wang, PhD
Associate Professor – Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Computational radiology, multimodal neuroimaging analysis, statistical learning & deep learning theories, neurodegenerative diseases, neurological disorders.
Anne Chin, MD
Assistant Professor – University of Montreal, Canada
Cardiothoracic Radiologist – University of Montreal Health Centre
Cardiac CT/MRI, quaternary cardiothoracic/aortic imaging, advanced post-processing techniques.
Audrey Fan, PhD
Assistant Professor – Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California Davis, U.S.A
Simultaneous PET/MRI, cerebral physiology, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, neurovascular coupling.
Beau Pontré, PhD
Senior Lecturer – Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging, University of Auckland
Cardiac imaging and modeling, congenital heart disease, medical physics (Ultrasound, X-ray, MRI), high field MR imaging.
David Dubowitz, PhD/MD
Director, Neuroradiologist, Neuroscientist – Centre for Advanced MRI, University of Auckland
Brain microstructure, cerebral physiology, resting-state fMRI connectivity, oxygen metabolism, MR spectroscopy, hypoxia, migraine.
Feliks Kogan, PhD
Assistant Professor – Department of Radiology, Stanford University, U.S.A
Musculoskeletal imaging, osteoarthritis, MRI physics, cellular and molecular Imaging, multimodal Imaging.
Geoffrey Handsfield, PhD
Researcher, Aotearoa Fellow – Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Musculoskeletal biomechanics, imaging, computational modeling.
Jia Guo, PhD
Assistant Professor – Department of Bioengineering, University of California Riverside, U.S.A
Magnetic resonance imaging, perfusion imaging, brain physiology, medical image processing, machine (deep) learning.
Manoj Saranathan, PhD
Associate Professor – Department of Medical Imaging, University of Arizona, U.S.A
MRI physics and reconstruction, ultra fast dynamic MRI for cancer and function, imaging and segmentation of deep brain structures.
Matthew McDonald
Registrar Ophthalmologist, RANZCO. PhD Student – FMHS, University of Auckland
Ophthalmology, ocular therapeutics, cataract surgery, advanced MRI imaging (DTI), concussion (mTBI), eye-tracking & eye movement abnormalities
Mehmet Kurt, PhD
Assistant Professor – Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, U.S.A
Brain biomechanics, mechanical neuroimaging, concussions, modeling, helmet design.
Michael Hoff, PhD
Assistant Professor – Department of Radiology, University of Washington, U.S.A
Translational MRI research, correction of susceptibility/off-resonance and motion/flow artefacts.
Nils Forkert, PhD
Assistant Professor, Canada Research Chair – University of Calgary, Canada
Machine learning, predictive modelling, medical image analysis, perfusion analysis.
Rachelle Bitton, PhD
Senior Research Scientist – Department of Radiology, Stanford University, CA, U.S.A
MR-guided focused ultrasound for cancer & essential tremor treatment, thermal dosimetry using MR PRF thermometry, MR acoustic radiation force imaging.
Rachel Fleming, PhD
Science Leader – Auckland Institute of Environmental Science and Research
Research & development, project management.
Rohit Ramchandra, PhD
Senior Lecturer – Department of Physiology, University of Auckland
Autonomic control of circulation, neural control of heart, sympathetic overactivity in disease, integrative physiology, animal models of heart disease.
Salil Soman, MSc/MD
Clinical Instructor, Neuroradiologist – Harvard University, U.S.A
Neuroradiology & computer science, computer graphics, computing in mathematics, advanced neuroimaging applications, novel image processing and data interpretation in TBI.
Samuel Rosset, PhD
Senior Research Fellow – Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Soft transducers, soft robotics for biomedical applications and mechanotransduction.
Sarah-Jane Guild, PhD
Senior Research Fellow – Department of Physiology, University of Auckland
Cardiovascular physiology, intracranial pressure, optogenetics, implantable devices, hypertension.
Sjoerd Vos, PhD
Lecturer – Department of Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering, University College London, U.K
MRI, neuroimaging, epilepsy, quantitative neuroradiology, surgical planning, image-guided surgery.
Stefan Skare, PhD
Research Team Leader – Karolinska Hospital, Sweden
Advanced MR acquisition, image reconstruction, software development.
Tracy Melzer, PhD
MRI Research Manager – New Zealand Brain Research Institute
Senior Research Fellow – Department of Medicine, University of Otago
MRI (structural, diffusion, perfusion, functional), metabolic and amyloid PET imaging, Parkinson’s disease, cognitive impairment.
Scientific & engineering research advisors
Akshay Chaudhari, PhD
Research Scientist – Department of Radiology, Stanford University, U.S.A
Artificial intelligence in medical imaging, rapid and quantitative musculoskeletal MRI, image post-processing and analysis.
Anna-Maria Lydon, DCR(R)/BHSc/PGDipMRI
Charge MR Technologist – Centre for Advanced MRI, University of Auckland
Diagnostic radiology, vascular radiology, cardiovascular imaging, fMRI, angiography.
Ben Parkinson, PhD
Senior Engineer – Robinson Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington
Portable MRI, compact MRI systems, novel MRI magnet geometry.
Charlène Mauger, PhD
Research Fellow – Auckland Bioengineering Institute
Mathematical modelling, statistical shape analysis, advanced image processing, computational anatomy.
Daniel Kopeinigg, PhD
Chief Technology Officer – Jaunt, U.S.A
Mathematical modeling, computer vision, machine learning, medical imaging.
Doug King, PhD
Research associate – Auckland University of Technology
Clinical Nurse Specialist – Hutt Valley District Health Board
Sports injury epidemiology, head impact biomechanics, sports-related concussion.
Ellyce Stehlin, PhD
R&D Engineer – MED-EL, Austria
Implantable medical devices, implant-patient-MRI interactions, MRI RF safety, numerical electromagnetics.
Eric Peterson, PhD
Senior Software Engineer – HeartVista, San Francisco, U.S.A
MRI protocol optimization, image processing and analysis, glymphatic system, diffusion, hyperpolarized imaging.
Itamar Terem, MSc
Research Associate – Department of Electrical Engineering & Structural Biology, Stanford University, U.S.A
MRI and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) of the brain, physics, advanced image processing.
Julian Maclaren, PhD
Engineer – Google ATAP, U.S.A
MRI neuroimaging methods, artificial intelligence, computer vision, motion tracking.
Kathleen Gilbert, PhD
Research Fellow – Auckland Bioengineering Institute
MRI cardiac imaging techniques and analysis and shape modelling.
Maged Goubran, PhD
Research Scientist – Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Canada
Computational neuroscience, diffusion MRI, computer vision, brain connectomics.
Mahdi Rahimi, PhD
Software Engineer – Facebook, U.S.A
Computer vision, deep learning, rapid imaging, image reconstruction.
Mathias Engström, PhD
MR Product Specialist – GE Healthcare, Sweden
Motion corrected MRI, pulse sequence design, reconstruction, and image processing.
Melvyn Ooi, PhD
MR Clinical Scientist – Philips Healthcare, U.S.A
Novel MRI techniques, pulse sequences, image reconstruction & correction, translational research.
Murat Aksoy, PhD
Research Associate – Department of Radiology, Stanford University, U.S.A
MRI motion detection and correction, diffusion-weighted & diffusion-tensor imaging, advanced image processing & reconstruction.
Natalie Zahr, PhD
Director – Translational Imaging Program, Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, U.S.A
Psychiatry, behavioral sciences, neuroanatomy, MR spectroscopy, in-vivo bio-markers, animal models.
Phillip Ward, PhD
Research Fellow – Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health, Monash University, Australia
Iron mapping, dynamic PET, functional MRI, physiological modelling of the brain, imaging and segmentation of cerebral veins.
Rafael O’Halloran, PhD
Senior Scientist – 4Catalyzer, U.S.A
MRI physics specializing in diffusion, motion correction, sequence programming, reconstruction.
Ronald Watkins, AAS/AOS
Senior Research Associate, Electrical Engineer – Department of Radiology, Stanford University, U.S.A
Electronics & hardware for medical imaging and therapeutics, MRI, Ultrasound, PET imaging.
Ross Keenan, MB ChB
Director – Pacific Radiology
Diagnostic radiology, MRI/PET (neurodegenerative disease & traumatic brain injury), functional MRI, cardiac CT and artificial intelligence, spine MR spectroscopy.
Sergei Obruchkov, PhD
Engineer – Robinson Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington
MRI systems engineering, RF and console electronics, in-vivo MR spectroscopy and relaxometry, portable MR devices for ischaemic tissue injury detection and monitoring.
Wei Bian, PhD
Chief Scientist – Alltech Medical Systems, China
MRI pulse programming, image reconstruction, MRI with susceptibility contrast, MRI for brain tumor & neurodegenerative diseases, automated radiotherapy target volume contouring using MRI.