Huia Tomlins-Jahnke PhD (Co-Chair, Trust Board)

Huia Tomlins-Jahnke is Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu, Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Ngāti Hine. She is Professor of Maori & Indigenous Education at Massey University where she was the inaugural Toi o Te Wānanga Fellow. Huia trained as a primary teacher and holds professional qualifications in education (BEd, MEd Hons). Huia has extensive experience in iwi research and has a PhD that investigated the nature of tribal service provision in health and social services. She has expertise in Māori theoretical, methodological and ethical frameworks and working with Māori communities. Huia has served as the Deputy Chair of the Massey University Human Ethics Committee; a member of the Social & Human Sciences Sub Commission of the NZ National Commission for UNESCO and sat on the Sub Commissions Pacific Ethics Consultation Steering Committee. She has been a member of ECART, the Bioethics Council and is currently Chair of the HRC Ethics Committee.

Lindsey Te Ata o Tu MacDonald PhD (Co-Chair, Trust Board)

Lindsey Te Ata o Tū MacDonald (Ngāi Tahu) is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, and an associate of the Kā Waimaero | Ngāi Tahu Centre. Lindsey worked in government (Te Puni Kōkiri, State Services Commission), before returning to University to complete his PhD. He was the Ngāi Tahu representative on the University of Canterbury Human Ethics Committee 2007 – 2019 and chair 2012 – 2016. He was a member of the New Zealand ethics review committee 2013 – 2019, and served as chair 2017-2019. He is a member of the National Ethics Advisory Committee.  

Patrick Vakaoiti PhD (Queensland) (Treasurer)

Patrick is interested in sociological and community development work with young people. He researches in Fiji and the Pacific region exploring youth issues like street-frequenting and political participation. His other interests include child protection and indigenous community development. Patrick’s work extends to consultancy research where he has worked with organisations like UNICEF Pacific, Pacific Leadership Programme (DFAT) and the Pacific Community. otago.ac.nz/sgc/staff/otago052929.html

Emma Tumilty PhD

Emma Tumilty is a feminist bioethicist and new Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies in the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities at UTMB. Prior to this appointment, she was the Ethics, Law and Professionalism Theme Leader & Lecturer at the School of Medicine, Deakin University in Australia, but was also previously a postdoctoral fellow and Assistant Professor at UTMB providing both research ethics consultation in the Institute of Translational Sciences and clinical ethics consultation in the UTMB Health system.

In her practice as consultant, educator, or researcher she centers issues of justice and access, using community-engaged and patient-centered approaches to address resource allocation, access, and disadvantage in research and clinical care. Dr. Tumilty has co-authored a book on research ethics practice for emerging researchers and co-edited a book on Transhumanism and Biohacking (forthcoming in October 2022). Her work is grounded in relationships and collaborations both locally, nationally, and internationally. She is currently the Book Review Editor for the International Journal of Feminist Bioethics, as well as an Associate Editor for both the Journal of Empirical Research in Human Research Ethics and Progress in Community Health Partnerships. 

Keely Blanch PhD

Keely is an educational advisor and instructional designer in medical education. She has been a member of the New Zealand Ethics Committee (NZEC) since 2013, served as Deputy Chair of NZEC (2020-2021), and in 2021 took up the role of Manager to facilitate the transition of the NZEC to the Aotearoa Research Ethics Committee (AREC). Keely is interested in educational and digital sociology. Her PhD explored the way young people understand the concept of digital citizenship, and she has been involved in several social media-based research projects. Her research interests include the role of digital technologies in education, the impact of social media, and the ethics of research in digital spaces.