Dr Kirsten Finucane

Paediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Starship Child Health, Auckland, NZ

Kirsten Finucane is the Chief Surgeon of the Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Service at Starship Hospital in Auckland.   She trained at Green Lane Hospital under the direction of Mr Alan Kerr, then in Birmingham Children’s Hospital in the UK with Mr Bill Brawn.  Kirsten returned to New Zealand in 1996 and her initial project was to develop the paediatric service into a specialised unit, moving from Green Lane to Starship in 2003.  This unit now performs around 400 bypasses per year including the full range of neonatal surgery, transplants and complex adult congenital cases. 

Areas of interest include valve repairs for children and teenagers with rheumatic heart disease, cerebral protection in the context of neonatal cardiac surgery, a modified maze technique for adult patients undergoing Fontan Conversion and improving the cardiac surgical service to children in the Pacific Islands.