• Jo McCann, ASUM President
• Dr Nathan Peters, ASUM Board Member
• Deanna Varga, ASUM Board Member
• Trish Manten, ASUM CEO

Jo McCann

Chair/Convenor

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Jo is a senior sonographer from Hamilton, New Zealand where she divides her time working for a private imaging company and teaching ultrasound skills to a diverse group of ultrasound users.

Jo has worked in several different clinical settings across New Zealand, Australia and Canada which gives her a strong appreciation for the issues facing all users of ultrasound. Jo has a keen interest in head and neck ultrasound, outreach work and musculoskeletal ultrasound. Jo has taught several ultrasound programmes and is currently a guest lecturer in Australia and Malaysia.

Jo is a Registration Examination Assessment examiner for the New Zealand Medical Radiation Technologists Board and a sonographer technical expert for International Accreditation of New Zealand. She has served on the DMU board of Examiners as the general representative and board chair. Jo was elected President of the ASUM Board in 2024.

Dr Sierra Beck

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Sierra Beck is an Emergency Medicine doctor from Dunedin, NZ.  She holds a joint appointment as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medicine at Otago Medical School and works clinical in the ED at Dunedin Public Hospital. She completed an Emergency ultrasound fellowship at Emory University/ Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, USA.  She is interested in all things ultrasound and her research interests include the  development of ultrasound procedural skills in early learners, and the integration of artificial intelligence into point-of-care echocardiography.

Mel Connick

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Mel Connick is a senior sonographer at Waikato hospital who underwent MRT and Ultrasound training at Waikato, qualifying as a sonographer in 2008. She then spent a few years locuming in London before settling down back in Hamilton, NZ. Now a Mum of 3 and working part time between public and private practice, she has a passion for teaching clinicians to perform ultrasound and have recently embarked on my first outreach project in Samoa which she would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in this work.

Caitlin Hall

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Caitlin Hall is in her second year of clinical placement working towards a post graduate diploma in health sciences in ultrasound, based in Hamilton and undertaking training at both Waikato hospital and Pacific Radiology. Caitlin is excited to be engaged as part of the ASUM25 and looking forward to providing a student perspective for this year's conference program.

Natasha Johnson

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Biography coming soon.

Dr Shaun Khanna

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After graduating from medical school in 2016, Dr. Khanna completed his internship in Blacktown Hospital and Basic Physician Training at St Vincent’s Hospital. During this time, Dr. Khanna completed a Masters of Medicine through the University of Sydney. After completion of the Royal Australasian College of Physician examinations, Dr. Khanna completed his cardiology advanced training at Blacktown Hospital. As his time as a clinician, Dr. Khanna has been extensively involved with clinical research and teaching and has held conjoint positions with the University of New South Wales and University of Western Sydney. Dr. Khanna is currently completing his Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine through the University of New South Wales.

Dr Jacques Loubser

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Dr. Jacques Loubser is an Emergency Medicine Specialist with a keen interest in point-of-care ultrasound. He completed his medical training at the University of Stellenbosch and later moved to New Zealand, where he completed his specialization training in Emergency Medicine.

Dedicated to improving patient safety and diagnostic accuracy, Dr. Loubser is a strong advocate for the use of ultrasound in clinical practice to enhance efficiency and decision-making. He completed the Diploma in Diagnostic Ultrasound in 2024 and currently serves as the Clinical Lead for Ultrasound at Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department, where he plays a key role in promoting ultrasound education and training.

Dr Meera Mani

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Dr Mani is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist attached to The Sydney Adventist hospital and Hornsby Ku ring gai Hospital. She received her Fellowship after completing her training at Westmead hospital in 2017.She received a Diploma in Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the Australasian Society of Ultrasound in Medicine in 2020.

She is passionate about teaching ultrasound to trainees and was an honorary speaker for Australian Society for Medical imaging. She has worked for many years in rural India providing the much-needed services in women’s health where she improved standards of care in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Ultrasound and introduced basic women’s health policies.

Sumi Shrestha-Taylor

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BAppSc Diagnostic Radiography (Hons), PhD (Ultrasound), FASA

General sonographer with a passion for musculoskeletal ultrasound. Graduated from the University of Sydney in 1999 with 1st Class Honours degree in Medical Radiation Sciences. After working as a radiographer and mammographer for a few years in Sydney, moved to New Zealand and pursued a career in ultrasound 22 years ago. Has been working at Pacific Radiology, Wellington as a sonographer ever since. Recently completed a PhD in ultrasound with a research work on the role of ultrasound in the diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder. Editorial board member of Sonography journal for past 5 years. Fellow of ASA since 2023.

Dr Ellen Woodcock 

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Ellen is a Cardiac Sonographer and Profession Teaching Fellow at the University of Auckland, involved in the development and delivery of the PGDip Health Sciences (Cardiac Ultrasound). She is also a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Otago, Christchurch, where her current research aims to create an evidence-base to change guidelines and ensure the delivery of best practice echocardiography in Aotearoa. This includes investigating the clinical impact of applying ethnic-specific reference ranges and indexing approaches to account for body habitus.