Conference
Speakers

A/Prof Aggarwal has been the Head of the Palliative Care Department at Concord Hospital since 1996 and is currently the Deputy Clinical Director Cancer Services and Palliative Care SLHD. Her practice includes hospital consultancy, ambulatory and inpatient care in palliative medicine within the district wide Sydney Palliative Care Service, SLHD. She has been involved in the development of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Chapter of Palliative Medicine and is the chair of the Executive of the Sydney Institute of Palliative Medicine. Her interests include undergraduate and postgraduate education in palliative care, communication skills and ethics and end of life decision making. She has been involved for a number of years in the strategic development of Palliative Care in New South Wales. Currently she is involved in teaching and development of Palliative Care in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ira Byock, MD, FAAHPM is a leading physician, author, and public advocate for improving care for people living with serious medical conditions. He has been involved in hospice and palliative care since 1978. His research has contributed to conceptual frameworks for the lived experience of illness; measures for subjective quality of life; and counseling methods for life completion and wellbeing. He is a past president of the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Byock directed a national grant program (1996-2006) developing prototypes for concurrent palliative care within mainstream medicine. In 2014, he established the Institute for Human Caring to make whole persons caring routine within a multi-state Providence health system. Dr. Byock is an emeritus professor of medicine and community & family medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine. His books include Dying Well, The Four Things That Matter Most, and The Best Care Possible.

Dr Amanda Landers was born and bred in rural Aotearoa New Zealand. The Deep South is where her passion for palliative care began as a junior doctor,.and she currently works for Hospice Southland. Amanda enjoys talking with patients and families facing life-limiting illness, and helping them plan and prepare for the future. She has worked in large urban areas, and in remote environments in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Amanda is currently the Head of Department, Medicine at the Otago Medical School in Christchurch and is the module convenor for the Palliative and End of Life Module. In 2023 she completed a PhD investigating end-stage chronic lung disease and their health care network, with recommendations for new models of care. Amanda also leads the Aotearoa Australian Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy Research (ASPERT) Group who strive towards best practice for those with pancreatic cancer in Australasia.

Julian Wilcox (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa) is an award winning broadcaster, a former television executive and local industry veteran. One of Māori Television ’s founding members, Wilcox’s prolific presence has played a vital role in the amplification of Māoricentric media for some 30 years now. With no end in sight. A true media stalwart, Julian fronted TVNZ’s Te Karere and Māori Televison’s award-winning Native Affairs —plus a number of media production, academic and management roles, including Chief Officer of Operations for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu —and is a beloved co-host on The Hui. The Hui, a programme sharing Māori perspectives on current affairs, sees Wilcox call upon his rich, dynamic career to tell stories of Māori development and whānau rangatiratanga, honour whaikōrero, uphold industry standards and engage (heartily) with viewers.