Catherine (cass) Byrnes MBChB, FRACP, GCCE, MD

Catherine (Cass) Byrnes MBChB, FRACP, GCCE, MD is an Associate Professor in the Paediatric Department at the University of Auckland and a Paediatric Respiratory Specialist at the Starship Children’s Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. She completed her medical training in New Zealand, neonatal training at John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford and respiratory specialist training at the Royal Brompton Hospital & National Heart and Lung Institute in London where she completed her MD thesis.

In her University role, she leads a research programme focused on improving outcomes of early childhood infection, recurrent pneumonias, bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis - especially improving care of indigenous children - with 8 international collaborations and findings translated to changes in medical care. She was the Director of Undergraduate Medical School Paediatric Teaching for 6 years and is currently the Director of the FRACP paediatric programme in NZ. At Starship Children’s Hospital, she developed new national services (outreach, fibreoptic bronchoscopy, bronchiectasis, home ventilation/oxygen) and continues to lead bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis care. She is the Chair of the PORT CF registry development and is on the editorial board of the New Zealand Formulary for Children.