Our Pathologists

Dr Ng is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong, and trained in Chemical Pathology at the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary and Princess Margaret Hospitals in Hong Kong.

Prior to joining Awanui Labs, he worked in the Department of Chemical Pathology at Hong Kong’s Prince of Wales Hospital.

Dr Ng is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and a member of the Hong Kong Society of Clinical Chemistry.

Dr Kyle graduated from Auckland Medical School in 1980 and received his specialist pathology (FRCPA) qualification in Chemical Pathology in 1993. During his training he also completed a PhD degree at the University of Utah in Physiology (with emphasis in Endocrinology and Genetics).

Dr Kyle has been involved in the provision of community pathology services in Auckland since 1993, first as Director of Biochemistry at Medlab (1993-1999), then as Co-Director and later Director of Biochemistry/Immunology at Diagnostic Medlab from 1999 to 2013. He has also been employed as a part time Chemical Pathologist at LabPlus since 2010. He has been a visiting specialist in the Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology within ADHB since 1992; has been an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Molecular Medicine with the University of Auckland since 1995 and involved with provision of pathology education nationally through BPAC since 2005.

Dr De Silva is a graduate of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka Faculty of Medicine. In 2003 Dr De Silva completed Post-Graduate training in General Pathology at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, obtaining her Diploma in General Pathology.

Dr De Silva worked at Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital and the National Cancer Institute of Sri Lanka. She completed her MD (Haematology) in 2006 through the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, Sri Lanka. She then moved to Australia where she completed her haematology training at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Dr De Silva is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

Dr Kim Nash is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa. She completed her Masters of Medicine in Haematology and became a fellow of the South African College of Pathologists in South Africa after training at the University of the Witwatersrand and National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology.

Dr Nash has worked as pathologist since 2013 in South Africa and has experience in both state and private healthcare. Dr Nash joined Awanui Labs in February 2021 as a fulltime Haematologist.

Dr Lesley Overend is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa. She completed training and fellowships in clinical and laboratory Haematology in Christchurch Hospital/Canterbury Health Laboratories and Middlemore hospital.

Special interests include Laboratory Haematology, Red cell disorders and Medical education.

Dr Lesley Overend holds joint fellowships in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

Dr James Liang is a clinical and laboratory haematologist with special interest in adult haematological cancer while also managing general haematological conditions such as thrombosis and haemostasis.

After completing his medical degrees in 2005 from the University of Auckland, James continued his medical training in the Auckland region.  In 2015 he was awarded a research fellowship from Cancer and Palliative Network (Perth, Australia) and spent 2016-2017 at the University of Western Australia and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.  During this time his research mainly focused in the field of myeloproliferative neoplasm and development of novel method of blood-based cancer detection.

Apart from his clinical research interest, James believes in the importance of disseminating knowledge and has lectured undergraduates, and been an invited speaker in community events, GP seminars and international conferences.

Dr Hurst is a graduate from the University of Otago Medical School. She trained in Clinical and Laboratory Immunology.

Dr Hurst currently works part time at Awanui Labs as well as part-time at Auckland City Hospital. She has a speciality interest in anaphylaxis and primary immunodeficiency. She holds joint fellowship in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

Dr Matt Blakiston graduated from University of Otago medical school.  He has completed an MSc in Tropical Infectious Diseases (Liverpool) and Medical Microbiology (LSHTM).  He trained in Clinical Microbiology in the Auckland region.  In addition to working at Awanui Labs, Dr Blakiston works as a clinical microbiologist at Auckland City Hospital.   His areas of particular interest within microbiology include the epidemiology and control of antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and mycobacteriology.  Dr Blakiston is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and a member of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases and the Australian Society for Antimicrobials.

Dr Bloomfield trained in microbiology and infectious diseases at Wellington Hospital and University College London Hospital, UK, leading to fellowship with RCPA and RACP.  Whilst in the UK he completed two masters degrees: an MSc in clinical microbiology at Queen Mary, University of London and an MPhil in epidemiology at the University of Cambridge.  He works as a clinical microbiologist at Wellington SCL, in addition to Awanui Labs. Dr Bloomfield has a wide range of interests within microbiology and infectious diseases, including diagnostic stewardship and antimicrobial resistance.

Dr Ranmini Kularatne trained as a Clinical Microbiologist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She obtained an MSc (Med) in Microbiology and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene from the University of the Witwatersrand. Prior to moving to Awanui Labs in Auckland, she was head of a general diagnostic microbiology laboratory at a tertiary academic hospital, and afterwards head of the national STI reference laboratory at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg. She is an advisor to the STI Guideline Development Group at the World Health Organization, and an executive committee member of the International Union against STI. Additionally, she is a lecturer (joint-staff) in the Department of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.