Conference speakers

Sebastian Barnard is a genetic counsellor with Te Whatu Ora, based in the Genetic Health Service NZ – Southern Hub. He completed his training and certification in South Africa, where he worked for two years at the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg. During his training, he contributed to prenatal, paediatric, and cancer genetic clinics in local public hospitals and lectured postgraduate students.

Sebastian has developed interests in Array CGH interpretation, reporting, and hereditary cancers. His Master’s research examined the accessibility and appropriateness of genetic testing for public and private patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancer in South Africa.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Physiology, Genetics, and Psychology, as well as a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Genetics, both from the University of Pretoria.

Dr Bec Bennett is the Principal Research Audiologist at the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) and a 2022 NHMRC Investigator Fellow. Her research focuses on improving the wellbeing and communication outcomes of adults with hearing loss through evidence-based, person- and family-centred approaches to audiological care.

She leads national and international projects examining how hearing loss affects social connection, mental health, and daily life—and how audiologists can better identify and address these needs. Dr Bennett developed the AIMER program, an evidence-based framework and suite of resources that support clinicians to integrate wellbeing care into hearing practice.

Her current research explores hearing difficulties among adults with sub-clinical hearing loss, management pathways, and effective outcome measures. Passionate about innovation and accessibility, she is also advancing the use of digital health and AI-driven tools in hearing care, co-developing apps, assessments, and resources for clinicians and consumers.

Dr. Ziva Shai Campbell is a researcher at the University of Canterbury specialising in occupational audiology, with a particular focus on the intersections of workplace well-being, equity, and identity. Her work explores issues of stress, burnout, pay equality, microaggressions, discrimination, and gender identity within audiology and related health professions.

Dr. Campbell’s scholarship highlights the importance of creating inclusive and supportive work environments that foster resilience and professional satisfaction.

Through her research and advocacy, she aims to advance equity and improve occupational outcomes for diverse practitioners in audiology and beyond.

Dr Celia Hulme is a culturally Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) Research Associate at the University of Manchester, specialising in health services, social care and cultural competence. Her expertise in sign language and Deaf culture underpins her commitment to improving lives, creating meaningful change, and generating real impact for Deaf communities within health and social care research.

Her research focuses extensively on audiology, particularly adult Deaf sign language users’ experiences of audiology services, hearing aid use, and the cultural competency of hearing aid clinics – including both service design and staff practice. Her research continues to highlight the need for culturally informed approaches to audiological care and advocates for improved service pathways that better meet the needs of Deaf sign language users.

Hamish Jamieson is a geriatrician at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch.  He is also an Associate Professor in Medicine with Otago Medical School and has published over 70 scientific papers. 

His main research areas are pragmatic interventions that will improve the lives of older people.  He has also recently been awarded a $4 million grant to research artificial intelligence. 

Dr. Ryan McCreery is Vice President of Research and Director of Audiology at Boys Town National Research Hospital, where he leads the Audibility, Perception, and Cognition Laboratory. His research focuses on improving how audiologists assess and optimize speech audibility, particularly in children with hearing loss.

Dr. McCreery has pioneered the use of the Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) to guide hearing aid candidacy decisions, emphasizing that traditional audiograms may not fully capture a child’s access to speech sounds. His work has led to evidence-based protocols that integrate language, cognition, and acoustic measures to better predict outcomes and tailor amplification strategies.

Dr Linda Palavi (BHSc, PGDipPH, MPH (Hons), PhD) is a New Zealand-born Tongan from the villages of Kolofo’ou and Kolomotu’a in Tongatapu, Tonga, and was born and raised in Point Chevalier, Auckland.

She is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health within the Department of Pacific Health.

Her background is in public health research, with a particular focus on improving Pacific health equity across areas such as smoking cessation, alcohol and drug addiction, and hearing healthcare for children.

 Dr Mel Souter is a specialist Otolaryngologist (ENT surgeon) with subspecialty training in Otology, Neuro-Otology, and Cochlear Implantation, completed at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne. She provides comprehensive ENT care for adults and children, with particular expertise in complex ear and hearing conditions, including cochlear implantation.

With more than 15 years’ experience in Te Whatu Ora, Dr Souter has a longstanding interest in paediatric hearing health and contributes to several multidisciplinary clinical groups, including the Newborn Hearing Screening Program, the Southern Cochlear Implant Program, the Genetic Hearing Loss Group, and the Australasian CHAMP Group.

She practises at St George’s Hospital with Canterbury ENT Surgeons and performs paediatric and adult cochlear implant surgery through the Southern Cochlear Implant Program in Christchurch. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr Souter holds governance and advisory positions, including serving as a Board Director.