Emerging Personalised Healthcare Industry Group (EPHIG)
The EPHIG is made up of leading digital health industry organisations that provide software solutions, devices, and services related to the delivery of AI and LLM, Big Data, genomics, virtual, personalised medicine, and remote healthcare.
The EPHIG engages collaboratively across New Zealand's health sector to provide leadership, strategic advice, guidance, and to advocate for the advancement of sustainable solutions that enable the delivery of effective and efficient AI and LLM, Big Data, genomics, virtual, personalised medicine, and remote health services.
Members of the EPHIG have the opportunity to be involved in cross-sector activities with health providers (i.e., HNZ, PHOs), policy-makers (i.e., MOH and HNZ), and sector advisory bodies to provide and receive up-to-date information and knowledge.
The group is co-chaired by Brendan Swan, Roche, and Steven Dodds, ThermoFisher Scientific.
The EPHIG meets virtually on the first Thursday of every second month starting from March at 11.00am.
Brendan Swan (Co-Chair of EPHIG)
Personalised Healthcare Lead, Roche New Zealand
Brendan is passionate about ensuring Personalised Healthcare becomes a reality for all New Zealanders, working full-time to deliver it in a timely and equitable way. He focuses on integrating cutting-edge technologies into the health system to enhance patient outcomes and system efficiency, while championing equity, Te Tiriti, data sovereignty, and safety as central pillars of this vision.
His journey in Personalised Healthcare began with a PhD at the University of Auckland, where he used next-generation sequencing to provide personalised diagnoses for rare neurodevelopmental cases. Following this, he became Chief Scientist at SelfDecode, a California-based company providing personalised health reports by integrating genomic, blood, and lifestyle data. He then joined Edison in Auckland as Chief Scientist, working on preventative healthcare solutions for members.
Now, as the Personalised Healthcare Lead for Roche Products NZ, Brendan is dedicated to creating a healthcare future where data from new technologies is fully integrated with existing systems, allowing for intelligent analysis and personalised reports for every individual. He believes the future of healthcare will empower individuals to take control of their health data and outcomes. Through his role with the Emerging Personalised Healthcare Industry Group (EPHIG), Brendan hopes to foster collaboration, share ideas, and inspire a vision for Personalised Healthcare that brings real, tangible benefits to all New Zealanders.
Steven Dodd (Co-Chair of EPHIG)
Genomic Solutions and BioSciences Manager, New Zealand Thermo Fisher Scientific
Steven is the New Zealand Genomic Solutions and BioSciences Sales Manager for Thermo Fisher Scientific. Originally from the small town of Opunake, Taranaki, he attended the University of Otago from 1994-2002 where he completed a BSc (microbiology), MSc (Microbiology) and PhD (molecular biology/genetics) in conjunction with AgResearch.
He has 20 years’ experience in the Life Science and Diagnostic industry with Thermo Fisher Scientific and its legacy companies, Life Technologies and Invitrogen. This experience includes direct field sales and high-level negotiation across Cambridge (UK), New Zealand and Australia, as well as people management and coaching.
He returned to New Zealand in April 2014 to take up a commercial role for the Life Sciences Solutions Group (formerly Life Technologies) of Thermo Fisher Scientific which involves management of the New Zealand Life Sciences team. He is a member of the ANZ leadership team and actively contributes to the business development strategy and employee wellbeing.
