Influential leaders in healthcare named on 40 Under 40 list

Several young doctors who hold influential leadership roles in New Zealand’s health sector have been named on the University of Auckland’s 40 Under 40 list for 2021.

They join an exclusive club of graduates who have achieved exceptional success within their profession and/or community while aged in their 20s or 30s.

Each year the university recognises 40 graduates in seven different categories who are achieving beyond their years and are set to become well-known identities in their fields.

Medical professionals on this year’s list include:

Dr Karina McHardy, who studied medicine at Auckland and completed her PhD at the University of Oxford. She is also a former elite gymnast. Karina advocates for diversity and consumer-centred change in healthcare and has held health leadership roles at ACC, the World Health Organisation, and several DHBs. Notably, she helped establish a national public health programme in the Channel Islands. She is married to fellow doctor and 40 Under 40 Dr Lloyd McCann. The couple has four-year-old twins.

Dr Lloyd McCann is the CEO of Mercy Radiology and Clinics and an expert advisor on the recent NZ Health and Disability System Review. He supports a better healthcare system for all New Zealanders that prioritises equity, value-based care, and better use of digital technologies. 

Dr Morgan Edwards is the Waitemata DHB Obstetric Anaesthetic lead and Vice-President for the NZ Society of Anaesthetists. She uses her vast knowledge to help mothers and mothers-to-be access unbiased, factual information about pain relief options available to New Zealand women, via her website yourlabouryourway.co.nz. 

Dr Rahul Gandhi is a Wellington Hospital doctor who as well as studying medicine at Auckland, holds an MBA from Oxford University and a Master of Public Health from Harvard. He is both a medical professional and social entrepreneur. He was involved in developing cost-effective screening for rheumatic heart valve disease in East Timorese schoolchildren, and hopes to find future solutions to address New Zealand’s own disappointing rates of rheumatic heart disease, as well as other inequities in healthcare.

The 40 Under 40 list recognises exceptional graduates in the categories of business leaders, influencers, performers, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and disruptors and innovators.

Read the full list here.