Rate My Professor Chris Jackson

Professor Chris Jackson is a Professor of Cancer Medicine and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medicine – Dunedin at the University of Otago, Department of Medicine (Dunedin), Dunedin School of Medicine. He also serves as a Consultant Medical Oncologist. Jackson holds an MB ChB from the University of Otago, awarded in 2000, and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2008. Promoted to full professor in 2022 and appointed Deputy Dean in 2025, his career emphasizes medical oncology with a focus on gastrointestinal cancers, particularly colorectal cancer, clinical trials in cancer, health services research, genetic aspects of cancer, treatment and toxicity, and immunotherapy in solid tumours. His clinical expertise spans gastrointestinal cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, and genitourinary cancer.

Jackson's scholarly contributions include over 93 publications garnering more than 3,900 citations. Key works feature recent articles such as 'Patterns of treatment prior to death among those with lung cancer: A national study in a universal healthcare context' (Lung Cancer, 2025), 'Improving lung cancer survival outcomes for Māori' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2025), and 'A thymine-challenge test to prospectively evaluate dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase activity for risk of severe 5-fluorouracil-induced gastrointestinal toxicity' (Cancer Chemotherapy & Pharmacology, 2025). Highly cited publications encompass 'Progress in cancer survival, mortality, and incidence in seven high-income countries 1995–2014 (ICBP SURVMARK-2)' (The Lancet Oncology, 2019, cited by 1259) and 'The impact of comorbidity on cancer and its treatment' (CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 2016, cited by 898). In leadership, he co-leads Health New Zealand’s National Clinical Network for Cancer, serves on the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) Board of Directors, and previously acted as Medical Director of the Cancer Society of New Zealand. His efforts have advanced national standards for bowel cancer treatment, contributed to the establishment of the national cancer agency Te Aho o te Kahu, and promoted equitable cancer care, as highlighted in his 2023 inaugural professorial lecture 'At the Crossroads of Cancer Care'. In 2025, he was named one of OncoDaily's 100 Most Influential People in Oncology.