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Jason Gurney imageBSc(Hons), PhD
Research Professor and Director, Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) Research Group

Contact details  

Email jason.gurney@otago.ac.nz

Research interests and activities  

Professor Jason Gurney (Ngāpuhi) grew up in Te Tai Tokerau. He attended the University of Auckland, graduating with a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours, before completing a PhD in biomechanics focussing on the lower-limb complications of diabetes. In 2010, he was hired by Dr Diana Sarfati to work as a research fellow on the original ‘C3’ study, which examined disparities in access to cancer care experienced by Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Jason is now the Director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) Research Group at the University of Otago, where he leads multiple national-level projects on equity in health outcomes for Māori, with a focus on cancer. He is Principal Investigator of a five-year HRC Programme Grant, and has led several HRC-funded projects, examining topics including post-operative mortality, the co-occurrence of cancer and diabetes, and cancer treatment and outcomes for Māori.

In terms of public service, Jason has been seconded part-time to Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency as their senior epidemiologist, and contributes to multiple initiatives across the agency. He sits on several national-level committees, including the Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) which provides independent public health advice to the Minister of Health. Jason is also an author: his first book, The Twisted Chain, mixes personal memoir with medical history and public health action in the context of rheumatic fever. The Twisted Chain was longlisted for Best Non-Fiction Book in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025.

Find out more about Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3)

Publications

Wall, V., Signal, V., Cooper, J., Davies, C., Goza, M., Koea, J., Robson, B., … Smith, M., Stairmand, J., & Gurney, J. (2025). Supportive care needs and assessment tools for family caregivers of Indigenous people with cancer: A narrative review. Supportive Care in Cancer, 33, 1119. doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-10115-6 Journal - Research Other

Gurney, J., Ongley, D., Cameron, L., Costello, S., Davies, A., Dawkins, P., Jackson, C. G. C. A., … Stanley, J. (2025). Patterns of treatment prior to death among those with lung cancer: A national study in a universal healthcare context. Lung Cancer, 208, 108761. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2025.108761 Journal - Research Article

Hague, K., Crampton, P., Cunningham, R., Gurney, J., Te Huia, B., McElnay, C., … the Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) Secretariat. (2025). We can determine our future health. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 138(1621), 9-12. doi: 10.26635/6965.E1621 Journal - Research Other

Davies, A., Stanley, J., Costello, S., Dunn, A., Dawkins, P., Jackson, C., … Gurney, J. (2025). Radiation therapy for lung cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand. Cancer Causes & Control, 36, 1719-1730. doi: 10.1007/s10552-025-02052-w Journal - Research Article

Wells, C. I., Wehipeihana, E., Varghese, C., Paterson, L., O'Grady, G., Harmston, C., Gurney, J., … Koea, J. (2025). Inequities in 'failure to rescue' for Indigenous Māori after gastrointestinal cancer surgery in New Zealand. British Journal of Surgery, 112(8), znaf161. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znaf161 Journal - Research Article

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