Diana Sarfati

Diana Sarfati (born 1967/1968) is New Zealand's Director–General of Health and a public health physician and health services researcher.[2] She was formerly head of Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Cancer Control Agency in New Zealand.[3]

Diana Sarfati
Sarfati in 2019
Director-General of Health
Assumed office
1 December 2022
Preceded byAshley Bloomfield
Personal details
Born1967 or 1968 (age 55–56)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Otago
Scientific career
FieldsEpidemiology
InstitutionsUniversity of Otago
Thesis

Career

Sarfati was appointed Interim Chief Executive of the Cancer Control Agency on 1 December 2019, becoming the permanent chief on 1 July 2020 for what is now known as Te Aho o Te Kahu, Cancer Control Agency.[4]

In that role, she reported to the Minister and Associate Ministers of Health,[5] and advises Government on cancer-related matters. Since being in this role, Te Aho o Te Kahu has produced a number of key reports including a state of nation in cancer report,[6] regular reports on the impact of covid on cancer services,[7] a cancer prevention report,[8] and a report defining the gap in cancer medicine availability between Australia and New Zealand.[9] Sarfati was also involved in the establishment of Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy in New Zealand.[10]

She also sat on Health New Zealand's Planned Care Taskforce.[11]

Sarfati completed a PhD in 2014 at the University of Otago.[12] Prior to her appointment, Sarfati was Head of the Department of Public Health and the Director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) research group at University of Otago, Wellington.[13] Sarfati has focused on researching disparities in cancer outcomes, this work has identified key patient and health system factors that influence cancer survival. It is used extensively by health policy makers, clinicians and other researchers to develop policies and practices that aim to reduce inequities in cancer outcomes in New Zealand and internationally.[14][15]

Sarfati is also a member of the International Advisory Committee to Lancet Oncology,[16] IARC's international expert group on social inequalities in cancer,[17] the Board of the International Cancer Benchmarking Project,[18] and she led a Lancet Oncology series on cancer in small island developing states.[19] She is a former member of the National Cancer Programme Leadership Board, the National Screening Advisory Group, the National Ethics Advisory Committee, the Bowel Cancer Taskforce and the National Bowel Cancer Screening Advisory Committee .

In 2019, Sarfati was named NEXT's Woman of the Year for her focus on promoting equitable cancer treatment.[20]

In July 2022 she became acting Director-General of Health replacing Ashley Bloomfield.[21] In November 2022 she was confirmed as the permanent Director-General for a period of five years.[2]

Selected works
  • Gurney, Jason K., et al. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis and service access in New Zealand–a country pursuing COVID-19 elimination."[22] The Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific 10 (2021): 100127.
  • Sarfati, Diana, et al. "Cancer control in the Pacific: big challenges facing small island states."[23] The lancet oncology 20.9 (2019): e475-e492.
  • Sarfati, Diana; Koczwara, Bogda; Jackson, Christopher (July 2016). "The impact of comorbidity on cancer and its treatment". CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 66 (4): 337–350. doi:10.3322/caac.21342. PMID 26891458. S2CID 5264129.
  • Gurney, J. K., et al. "Estimating the risk of acute rheumatic fever in New Zealand by age, ethnicity and deprivation."[24] Epidemiology & Infection 144.14 (2016): 3058–3067.
  • Pilleron, Sophie, et al. "Global cancer incidence in older adults, 2012 and 2035: a population‐based study."[25] International journal of cancer 144.1 (2019): 49–58.
  • Sarfati, Diana; Blakely, Tony; Pearce, Neil (2010). "Measuring cancer survival in populations: relative survival vs cancer-specific survival". International Journal of Epidemiology. 39 (2): 598–610. doi:10.1093/ije/dyp392. PMID 20142331.[26]
  • S Hill, D Sarfati, B Robson, T Blakely. (2013) Indigenous inequalities in cancer: what role for health care?. ANZ journal of surgery 83 (1-2), 36-41[27]
  • AM McDonald, D Sarfati, MG Baker, T Blakely. (2015). Trends in Helicobacter pylori Infection Among Māori, Pacific, and European Birth Cohorts in New Zealand 20 (2), 139–145
  • Hill, Sarah, Diana Sarfati, Tony Blakely, Bridget Robson, Gordon Purdie, Jarvis Chen, Elizabeth Dennett et al. "Survival disparities in Indigenous and non-Indigenous New Zealanders with colon cancer: the role of patient comorbidity, treatment and health service factors." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 64, no. 2 (2010): 117–123.
  • Sarfati, Diana, Sarah Hill, Tony Blakely, Bridget Robson, Gordon Purdie, Elizabeth Dennett, Donna Cormack, and Kevin Dew. "The effect of comorbidity on the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival from colon cancer: a retrospective cohort study." BMC Cancer 9, no. 1 (2009): 116.
  • Scott, Kate M., Diana Sarfati, Martin I. Tobias, and Stephen J. Haslett. "A challenge to the cross-cultural validity of the SF-36 health survey: Factor structure in Māori, Pacific and New Zealand European ethnic groups." Social Science & Medicine 51, no. 11 (2000): 1655–1664.

References
  1. Macdonald, Nikki (28 September 2019). "National Portrait: Diana Sarfati, cancer researcher and new cancer agency boss". Stuff.
  2. "Dr Diana Sarfati to be next director-general of health". Stuff. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. "Te Rōpū Whakahaere" [Our Senior Leadership Team] (in Māori). Te Aho o Te Kahu. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. "Appointment: Chief Executive, Cancer Control Agency" (PDF). publicservice.govt.nz. 6 May 2020.
  5. "Te Aho o Te Kahu". New Zealand Government. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  6. "Te Aho o Te Kahu – The State of Cancer in New Zealand 2020". Te Aho o Te Kahu – The State of Cancer in New Zealand 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  7. Millar, Elinor; Gurney, Jason; Beuker, Suzanne; Goza, Moahuia; Hamilton, Mary-Ann; Hardie, Claire; Jackson, Christopher GCA; Mako, Michelle; Middlemiss, Tom; Ruka, Myra; Willis, Nicole (1 June 2021). "Maintaining cancer services during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Aotearoa New Zealand experience". The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. 11: 100172. doi:10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100172. ISSN 2666-6065. PMC 8315642. PMID 34327369.
  8. "Te Aho o Te Kahu - Cancer Prevention Report". Te Aho o Te Kahu - Cancer Prevention Report. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. "Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency". Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  10. "New national cancer treatment service opens". The Beehive. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  11. "Nationwide plan to tackle hospital waiting lists". The Beehive. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  12. Sarfati, Diana (2014). Developing new comorbidity indices for cancer populations using administrative data (Doctoral thesis). OUR Archive, University of Otago. hdl:10523/4734.
  13. University of Otago, Wellington. "Professor Diana Sarfati, Department of Public Health". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  14. "The State of Cancer in New Zealand 2020". Te Aho o Te Kahu. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  15. "Cancer Control Agency to drive improved care". Beehive.govt.nz. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  16. "The Lancet Oncology Advisory Board". www.thelancet.com. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  17. S, Vaccarella; J, Lortet-Tieulent; R, Saracci; DI, Conway; K, Straif; CP, Wild (7 November 2019). Reducing Social Inequalities in Cancer: Evidence and Priorities for Research. ISBN 978-92-832-2223-1.
  18. "ICBP partnership". Cancer Research UK. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  19. "Cancer control in small island nations". www.thelancet.com. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  20. Board, Otago Bulletin. "Equity and justice motivate NEXT Woman of the Year winners". University of Otago. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  21. "Diana Sarfati named as acting Director-General of Health". RNZ. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  22. Gurney, Jason K.; Millar, Elinor; Dunn, Alex; Pirie, Ruth; Mako, Michelle; Manderson, John; Hardie, Claire; Jackson, Chris G.C.A.; North, Richard; Ruka, Myra; Scott, Nina; Sarfati, Diana (2021). "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis and service access in New Zealand–a country pursuing COVID-19 elimination". The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. ScienceDirect. 10: 100127. doi:10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100127. PMC 7983868. PMID 33778794.
  23. Sarfati, D.; Dyer, R.; Amosa-Lei Sam, F.; Barton, M.; Bray, F.; Buadromo, E.; Ekeroma, A.; Foliaki, S.; Fong, J.; Herman, J.; Huggins, L.; Maoate, K.; Meredith, I.; Mola, G.; Palafox, N.; Puloka, V.; Shin, H. R.; Skeen, J.; Snowdon, W.; Tafuna'i, M.; Teng, A.; Watters, D.; Vivili, P. (2019). "Cancer control in the Pacific: big challenges facing small island states – PMC". The Lancet. Oncology. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 20 (9): e475–e492. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30400-0. PMC 7746436. PMID 31395476.
  24. Gurney, J. K.; Stanley, J.; Baker, M. G.; Wilson, N. J.; Sarfati, D. (2016). "Estimating the risk of acute rheumatic fever in New Zealand by age, ethnicity and deprivation" (PDF). Epidemiology and Infection. 144 (14): 3058–3067. doi:10.1017/S0950268816001291. PMC 9150400. PMID 27311633. S2CID 11969656.
  25. Pilleron, S.; Sarfati, D.; Janssen-Heijnen, M.; Vignat, J.; Ferlay, J.; Bray, F.; Soerjomataram, I. (2019). "Global cancer incidence in older adults, 2012 and 2035: A population-based study". International Journal of Cancer. 144 (1): 49–58. doi:10.1002/ijc.31664. PMID 29978474. S2CID 49709378.
  26. Sarfati, Diana; Blakely, Tony; Pearce, Neil (1 April 2010). "Measuring cancer survival in populations: relative survival vs cancer-specific survival". International Journal of Epidemiology. 39 (2): 598–610. doi:10.1093/ije/dyp392. ISSN 0300-5771. PMID 20142331.
  27. Hill, Sarah; Sarfati, Diana; Robson, Bridget; Blakely, Tony (2013). "Indigenous inequalities in cancer: What role for health care?" (PDF). ANZ Journal of Surgery. 83 (1–2): 36–41. doi:10.1111/ans.12041. PMID 23253098. S2CID 7745734.
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