Dr Swee Tan ONZM MBBS FRACS PhD

Dr Tan studied medicine at Melbourne University and trained as a plastic surgeon in New Zealand. Following a Craniofacial Fellowship at Oxford and Craniofacial Research Fellowship in Boston, he was appointed Consultant Plastic & Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgeon specialising in head and neck cancer surgery at Hutt Hospital in 1995, where he was the Director of Plastic Surgery 2000-2006 and Director of Surgery 2007-2013. He founded the Centre for the Study & Treatment of Vascular Birthmarks, a supra-regional referral centre, in 1996, and was awarded a PhD by Otago University in 2001 for his work in strawberry birthmark. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute. He is an elected member of 13 national and international medical and scientific societies. He was the past President of the ANZHNCS 2008-2010 and the Founding Chair of the Head and Neck Cancer Foundation Aotearoa. Well-known internationally for his research in vascular anomalies and cancer, Dr Tan is a recipient of 20 science prizes and 25 honours and awards including Wellingtonian of the Year – Science and Technology, KEA World Class New Zealand Award, and ONZM. He is an author of 205 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has delivered over 400 presentations at conferences.