Conference Speakers

Mr Albert Yoon 

Hand & Wrist Specialist 

I performed my Orthopaedic Surgery training throughout Auckland and the North Island. I further subspecialised in Hand surgery at the Hand and Upper Limb Centre in Canada where amongst other things I was pleased to learn percutaneous needle surgery as an alternative to traditional dupuytren's surgery. I also completed the Royal North Shore Hospital hand surgery fellowship in Sydney Australia. Recent advancements in thumb arthritis joint replacement are of particular interest to me now.

Since finishing training, I have been working in public practice for over a decade at North Shore hospital where I perform hand and wrist surgery and run a successful hand fellowship training programme. 

Specialising in: Hand & Wrist Trauma, Arthritis & Reconstruction. Wrist Arthroscopy, Hand & Arm Nerve Compression including Carpal Tunnel, Dupuytrens Contracture including Needle Aponeurotomy, Hand & Wrist Tendon Inflammation or Stiffness including Trigger Digit.

Qualifications/Memberships: MBChB, FRACS (Ortho)

Alieke van Middelaar

Alieke is a registered Physiotherapist and Hand Therapist, with over 25 years of experience in the New Zealand Public Health Service. During this time Alieke has held senior clinical roles at the National Burn Unit, the tertiary Hand Service at Middlemore Hospital, and the Outpatient Hand Therapy at Counties Manukau Health (Health NZ / Te Whatu Ora).  

Alieke is currently the Section Head of the Outpatient Hand Therapy Service at the Manukau SuperClinic, leading the service, and managing a clinical caseload. Alieke provides hand therapy for patients of all ages and regularly treats children with congenital hand differences following corrective surgery.   

Alison Coyle 

Alison has over 30 years’ experience in Occupational Therapy and Hand Therapy.

She graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1993 with a BSc (Occ Ther). She then worked for a few years in New York and London, developing her passion for paediatrics, neuro and hand therapy. Choosing to emigrate to New Zealand in 1998, Alison took a role as OT Section Head of burns, plastics and hand therapy at Middlemore Hospital, helping plan and develop the growing services there. Alison then moved into private practice, working and co-partnering a clinic with a hand therapy and vocational rehabilitation focus.

When she started her family in 2004, she made the choice to work part time in private practice, while continuing to enjoy a great work-life balance with her family.  She has maintained a clinical caseload, while also supervising, training, coaching and mentoring OT and physio colleagues for the past 20 years. 

She has been involved with HTNZ on the Education Committee for many years and continues to be involved with the AUT Hand and Upper Limb post graduate program.  She has presented hand therapy and splinting workshops throughout the country since 2000.

Mr Andrew Graydon

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Andrew is a NZ trained Orthopaedic Surgeon specializing in Paediatric Orthopaedics, Hip Surgery, Foot and Ankle Surgery and Musculoskeletal Oncology.

Following completion of the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association National Training Programme, Andrew carried out post-graduate subspeciality Paediatric and Oncology training in some of the world’s leading centres, before returning home to Auckland.

In addition to working at Eastwood he also holds a Consultant post at Starship National Children’s Hospital, where he specializes in all areas of Paediatric Orthopaedics with a special interest in Paediatric and Young Adult Hip Surgery and in Paediatric Musculoskeletal Oncology or Bone Cancers.

Becky Sheehy

Becky is an occupational therapist and registered hand therapist, working in both clinical and research roles. Since beginning her career in 2011, she has worked across diverse rehabilitation settings and has specialised in hand therapy since 2018.

Becky completed a Master of Health Science at AUT in 2024, undertaking a qualitative study exploring Māori patient experiences of hand therapy in Tāmaki Makaurau. She is passionate about culturally safe practice and integrating research to improve care for Māori. 

Dr Caryn Zinn

Caryn is a Professor of Nutrition at AUT’s School of Sport & Recreation and a New Zealand Registered Dietitian with over 25 years of clinical experience. Her research and practice focus on whole-food nutrition and holistic lifestyle strategies in the contexts of metabolic health, including insulin resistance and inflammation, and sports performance. 

A recognised leader in therapeutic carbohydrate-reduction, Caryn is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Metabolic Health and co-author of the best-selling "What the Fat?" series. Her work continues to influence both clinical practice and public health nutrition globally.

Cat Pollard

NZ Registered Physiotherapy Specialist (Pain)
 

Cat has over 16 years of experience working within the Auckland Regional Pain Service (TARPS) interdisciplinary team, where she has led both group-based and individualised therapy programs aimed at helping patients manage pain, enhance their function, and improve their quality of life. In addition, she provides specialist physiotherapy consultations through Auckland Physiotherapy, offering expert clinical reasoning and management strategies for clients with complex chronic pain.

Cat has a particular interest in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and the integration of innovative technologies to enhance clinical practice. She has conducted audits and research to evaluate the effectiveness of point-of-care ultrasound in assessment processes and the use of virtual reality in rehabilitation. Currently, she is collaborating with AUT to develop a new rehabilitation software program specifically designed for upper limb CRPS.

As a guest lecturer, Cat contributes to postgraduate pain courses at both Auckland University of Technology and Auckland University. She has been a speaker at numerous national and international conferences. Additionally, Cat is an active member of several professional committees, including the PNZ Auckland Branch, the Pain SIG, and the Te Toka Tumai Clinical Ethics Advisory Group.

MHPrac, BSc Hons, Dip (Ortho Med)

Eloise Carella

Physiotherapist

Eloise is a highly trained paediatric therapist from Scotland, qualifying in 2006. Most recently Eloise has been at Kidz First Middlemore for last two years as an advanced clinician. 

Prior to this, she worked at Starship (Auckland Children’s Hospital) and now also works in private practice in Auckland, New Zealand. She has extensive experience in both acute and community settings but is most passionate about outpatient musculoskeletal. Eloise has a special interest in the paediatric shoulder and runs physiotherapy education via her website.

Emma Radford 

Emma hails from Yorkshire, England and has a 20-year physiotherapy background in public and private healthcare in the UK and New Zealand. Her primary focus is upon adolescent musculoskeletal injuries, in particular, accurate diagnosis, holistic assessment, and bridging the gap between physiotherapy and successful return to sport - recognising the pivotal role management of youth injury has to lifelong health. 

Involvement within gymnastics, first as an athlete and later Head Coach and Senior Judge has provided first-hand experience of adolescents in sport and an open-mindedness to the many challenges faced by injured youth athletes and sports coaches. Recent work alongside Gymnastics New Zealand education team integrating anatomy and biomechanical principles within coach education has been a rewarding experience to promote an overall philosophy of athlete health comes first.

Emma owns Reach Rehabilitation & Sports and in 2024 co-authored 'Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy for Tamariki: A Guide for Primary Healthcare Physiotherapists' published by Physiotherapy New Zealand.

Heidi Myhr

Heidi is a registered Occupational Therapist and Hand Therapist with 20 years’ experience working as a Hand Therapist at Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora, Counties Manukau. Before her full-time employment at the Hand Therapy, Heidi worked in acute medical wards, elderly rehabilitation, the National Burn Unit and Auckland spinal unit. She has an advanced clinician role at Counties Manukau Hand therapy and teaches at the Hand and Upper Limb Therapy (HAULT) post graduate course at AUT. 

Heidi provides treatment for patients of all ages and has worked with a range of congenital paediatric conditions, providing splinting and advise for home programs. 

Dr Jennifer Hicks

Jenny is an orthopaedic surgeon with a particular interest in all upper limb surgery, including shoulder arthroscopy, stabilisation and joint replacement, nerve compression injuries in the arm, elbow problems, and wrist and hand abnormalities.

After her initial medical training at Oxford and Cambridge University medical schools, Jenny completed basic surgical training in Oxford, before immigrating to New Zealand in 1999. She completed her advanced orthopaedic surgical training in 2007, and then returned to the UK for sub-specialist hand and upper limb fellowships at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, and the Hand Clinic in Windsor.

Jenny was the first non-British medical trainee to be accepted for the prestigious British Diploma in Hand Surgery, which she completed in March 2010. In 2018 she spent a week working with Dr Don Lalond, the leading proponent of WALANT (Wide Awake, Local Anaesthetic, No Tourniquet). She now offers most hand procedures under WALANT (but also under GA depending on patient preference). She is currently the LIONZ rep on the NZOA Board, and Secretary elect for the NZSSH.

She has presented papers on arthritis of the scaphotrapezio-trapeziodal joint in the hand, the open-palm technique of surgical treatment for Dupuytren’s disease, introducing WALANT in a small centre, and performing needle fasciotomy in an outpatient setting.

Her specialist knowledge in this area contributes to her work with the Hand Therapist in Whakatane, as well as some of the therapists in Tauranga and Rotorua.

She has finally given up playing hockey (after nearly 40 years), but now plays age group badminton for the Bay of Plenty

MA, FRCS, FRACS (Orth), BSSH Dipl. Hand Surgery 

Mr Jonathan Heather 

I am a New Zealand trained Plastic Surgeon and a consultant at Middlemore Hospital in the Department of Plastic Surgery and the National Burn Centre. After qualifying as a specialist I completed further training in Cosmetic plastic surgery and Burn surgery in New Zealand and the United States.

Interest

I perform cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the face and body. This includes skin cancer surgery; surgical and non-surgical (botox, fillers) rejuvenation of the face; breast augmentation, reduction and corrective chest surgery including male breast reduction and chest wall deformities; body contouring including liposuction and abdominoplasty; and hand surgery. I have a special interest in reconstruction after burn injury and techniques to improve scars, including laser therapy.

Dr Julie Collis 

Julie is an Occupational Therapy teaching and research academic at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests include the management of hand and wrist injuries with a particular focus on occupation-based approaches, evaluation of rehabilitation strategies, equitable health outcomes for Indigenous peoples, and interprofessional education. Julie previously held an academic role at the Auckland University of Technology as a lecturer on the postgraduate hand and upper limb programme. She worked clinically in rheumatology and hand therapy at Counties Manukau Health.

Dr Miranda Buhler

Miranda is a Physiotherapy Expert Clinician (hand and musculoskeletal conditions), Te Whatu Ora Southern and a clinician-researcher working in the areas of musculoskeletal physiotherapy and health services research.

Her clinical research aims to improve outcomes of care for musculoskeletal conditions, focusing on the hand and upper limb.

She has conducted work in thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and digital tendon repair. She has particular interests in understanding the impact of conditions for patients and whānau, the effectiveness of orthotic and patient / whānau education interventions, and developing evidence-based pathways of care.

In the health services field, her research investigates how allied health workforces can be better situated to equitably meet population health needs, particularly for Māori, Pacific, and populations experiencing high socioeconomic deprivation. In this work, she uses geospatial methods, collaborates with rural Pacific communities and researchers, and examines approaches to health workforce planning.  

BPhty MPhty PhD

Rohil Chauhan 

Rohil Chauhan is an Auckland-based orthopaedic physiotherapy practitioner and Clinical Director of the Physiotherapy-led Orthopaedic Spine Service at the Auckland Spine Surgery Centre, where he performs First Specialist Assessments for patients referred to orthopaedic spine surgeons. He holds academic appointments as a Clinical Lecturer at The University of Auckland and AUT, contributing to postgraduate musculoskeletal physiotherapy programmes, with a focus on spinal radiology and advanced medical imaging.

Rohil is a Clinical Research Fellow funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and a PhD candidate at AUT. His doctoral research is centred on improving clinical and radiological approaches to the early diagnosis of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM). He is also an invited member of three international AO Spine research groups dedicated to advancing the translation of DCM research into clinical practice.

Sandra Kettle 

Pukekaroro te Maunga, Mahuru-ki-te-rangi te Waka, Otamatea te Marae, Ngati Whatua te iwi, Te Uri o Hau te Hapu.

Sandra has been a Hand Therapist since 2009. She is currently the Clinical Director and Hand Therapist at The Hand Clinic servicing the Northern Auckland Regions, working within her whenua with a Kaupapa Maori to reduce inequities and improve access for Maori. Sandra has been a Presenter and Educator about Cultural Safety, Cultural Responsiveness and a Diversity Advocate over the past 15 years. She was a former Kaitiaki/Chair of Tae Ora Tinana from 2015-2017. She is currently Co-Chair of the Maori Advisory Group to HTNZ, and member of the Constitution Working Party. She has recently graduated the Nga Manukura Clinical Leadership Program for Maori in Healthcare.

Dr Terri Bidwell 

Terri is a graduate of Auckland Medical School  (MBChB)and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Orthopaedic Surgeons (FRACVS). She is a member of POSNZ (Paediatric Orthopaedic Society of New Zealand) and the New Zealand Hand Surgery Society.

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After training in Orthopaedics she did Fellowship training in Trauma and Upper Extremity injuries in Australia and then in Paediatric Orthopaedics and Paediatric Upper Extremity in Dallas, Texas. She also works in Urgent Care and is undertaking further study in Wilderness and Expedition Medicine

She treats paediatric fractures and acute injuries as well as other musculoskeletal conditions seen in children and adolescents.

Mr Wolfgang Heiss-Dunlop

Hand & Upper Limb Orthopaedic Surgeon

Wolfgang graduated from Medical School in Berlin, Germany, in 1994.  He then immigrated to Auckland to join his New Zealand wife. He undertook his entire postgraduate training in New Zealand and finished his Orthopaedic Surgery training in 2006, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS). 

He completed a fellowship in Australia with Professor Mark Ross at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Brisbane Hand and Upper Limb Clinic, specialising in hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder surgery.

Wolfgang returned to Auckland in 2008 to take up a consultant position at the Regional Hand Surgery Service in Middlemore Hospital. He is actively involved with teaching and clinical research. 

His areas of special interest beyond routine acute and elective hand surgery includes brachial plexus surgery and tetraplegic hand reconstruction. Together with Mr Alpesh Patel (FRACS-Ortho) and Mr Chris Taylor (FRACS-Ortho) and the team from the Auckland Spinal Rehabilitation Unit, he was instrumental in setting up the Tetraplegic Upper Limb Surgery Unit in Auckland (TULS) in 2015. 

A further area of special interest is the reconstruction of post-traumatic and degenerative radiocarpal- and carpal joint disease utilising implant arthroplasty and rib graft interposition arthroplasty options.

Wolfgang is a member of, and has been active on the executive of the New Zealand Society for Surgery of the Hand (NZSSH). 

FRACS (Ortho)