Dr Alan Stanley
Consultant Neurologist
Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand Te Matau a Māui Hawke's Bay
and member of the MND New Zealand National Council

Alan completed training in Internal Medicine and Neurology in Cape Town, South Africa. He provides clinical care for people living with MND on a daily basis. Alan is also the principle investigator for the Lighthouse II phase 3 trial that is about to commence across 4 research sites across the country – a significant first for New Zealand MND research.

Dr Gethin Thomas
Executive Director
Research at MND Australia

Gethin has over 20 years of experience as a biomedical researcher, having published widely and secured almost $4M in research funding. He has extensive review experience across a wide range of journals as well as reviewing grants for Australian and International funding bodies including the NHMRC and European Union Horizon 2020 Program.

Over the last 10 years as a senior research manager, he has directed a University Research Office and served as an Associate Dean of Research. He has a deep understanding of research strategy and the research funding system from the grant preparation, application and review process through to management of funded projects at both the researcher and institutional level.

Gethin has been the Executive Director, Research at MND Australia since July 2019, where he oversees the research grant program and manages national and international partnerships. A key aspect of this role if providing a conduit between research programs and the wider MND community through MND Australia and the affiliated State Associations.

Dr Molly Swanson PhD
Neurological Foundation Research Fellow
Motor Neuron Disease Research Group, Centre for Brain Research & School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland

After completing her PhD in Anatomy at the University of Auckland in 2019, Molly started as a Research Fellow researching Motor Neuron Disease under Dr Emma Scotter.

Molly’ primary research focuses on understanding how the immune cells of the brain (microglia) change in neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia normally function to help the brain heal from damage and/or disease. There is increasing evidence that microglia become dysfunctional in neurodegenerative diseases, which can be toxic to neurons thereby contributing to disease. Due to their potential to both help and harm the brain, understanding how microglia change in disease is key to developing potential therapies.

Molly will give a brief overview of the research that herself and other members of Scotter lab are currently working on.

Webinar facilitator:

Scott Arrol
CEO, Motor Neurone Disease New Zealand

Scott is a highly experienced leader with a broad commercial, business leadership and governance background particularly in the New Zealand health sector, including the charities, not-for-profit and for-profit sectors. He has spent the past 18+ years at the forefront of significant growth and service delivery changes in both the home-based and aged care sectors along with other key areas of community health, disabilities, mental health and digital health, as well as a stint in early childhood care and education.

Scott has held leadership roles in significant organisations including Healthcare of New Zealand, Radius Health, Kindercare and NZ Health IT Cluster (NZHIT, now the Digital Health Association). Scott was CEO of NZHIT for nearly seven years and led its transformation to become the leading peak body for New Zealand’s digital health industry sector. From an academic and governance perspective, Scott received a Master in Business Administration (with Distinction) from the University of Waikato, has lectured in strategic management at the Waikato Business School, been a management mentor for a number of years and served on a number of not-for-profit and commercial boards.