Our people
Cath has worked for 40 years in public health and international development in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. She is the Director of the Child and Youth Health Research Centre (CYHRC) and Associate Head of School, Public Health and Psychosocial Studies.
Elaine has been involved in health and education for all her working career. In 2014 she was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health and in 2019 as Professor Emeritus in recognition of her long and distinguished service to the University.
Progressing research that benefits people and communities has been an overriding theme of Erica’s career. She focuses on translational research – research that can be applied for the benefit of people and communities.
Tineke has worked as a Registered Nurse, lecturer and researcher in the area of child/youth and family health for the last 25 years. Tineke's research expertise is in participatory art-based research with children, humanitarian response, public health and disaster/emergency response.
Nadia has research expertise in the areas of public health and infectious disease prevention and control. She specialises in qualitative research and participatory action research with a focus on community participation and knowledge translation.
Carol's current research interests encompass: sexual health, HIV prevention, social inequities, critical youth voice, participatory and action research designs, policy design and implementation.
Daniel’s background is in oral health, and he has expertise in dental materials, local anaesthesia, deep caries management, dental extractions, mouthguard fabrication, communicating with children, operative dentistry, and clinical supervision.
Dinar is a lecturer in the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Department in the Medical Faculty at Udayana University in Bali, and a research consultant at Bali's Center for Public Health and Innovation.
Erika has a passion for research on children’s physical activity, active transport and independent mobility.
Gloria has an interest in public health, especially youth health, international development and Pacific health. Her professional experience includes working in the community in a variety of areas including lifestyle coaching, workforce development, the Auckland-wide Healthy Homes Initiative (AWHI) and the Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme.
Jo is currently undertaking doctoral research on the interpretations of policy and practice professionals’ experiences and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: the ‘child only journey' from Aotearoa New Zealand hospital birth to stranger care research.
Julie is a lecturer in nursing in the School of Clinical Sciences. Julie’s clinical expertise comes from a variety of specialty areas in child and youth health where she worked for over 25 years. Her current research interests include quality of life and the impact of chronic illness on children, young people and their whanau; respiratory disease and the impact of fatigue on young people and health literacy among children with chronic illness. Julie completed her doctoral study in 2020 which explored the experience of young people living with bronchiectasis.
Losi's research involves working with youth entrepreneurs in Samoa, co-designing and promoting fruit and vegetable enterprises to help reduce the prevalence of non-communicable disease such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Renu's research aims to create a space for marginalised indigenous Sahariya youth to improve access to safe water in Rajasthan state in northern India.
Sarah has been working in child health for over 30 years, and is currently working as Nurse Consultant for Starship Community at Auckland District Health Board. Her doctoral research explores the relationship between primary schools and health services in New Zealand.
Susan is a senior lecturer in nursing in the School of Clinical Sciences. Susan’s past nursing experience centres mainly around acute surgical areas. As a doctoral candidate, she is currently undertaking research on primary nurses experiences when working with children who live with abuse/neglect. She has been involved in child protection policy development for local, regional and national sporting organisations.
Paul is a lecturer in nursing in the School of Clinical Sciences, AUT. Paul’s nursing experience has seen him practice in a number of different child health clinical roles. As a doctoral candidate he is currently undertaking research on health literacy and the experiences, perceptions and understanding of young people from refugee backgrounds.
Sally is a lecturer in the School of Clinical Science, her research areas include weight estimation paediatric resuscitation and the design, development and testing of mobile application which uses computer vision and augmented reality to streamline this process during resuscitation. Other areas include health informatics and innovation in tertiary education.
Wambui Thuita is a sociologist/public health expert with extensive knowledge in providing technical leadership in conceptualizing, managing and monitoring community health programmes in East Africa. Her passion lies in working on programmes associated with marginalized groups; such as, women and young adults in Kenya, her native land.
Yadav lives and works in Nepal and his research involves the health and well-being of young people. His professional experience includes working with marginalised and indigenous young people to improve their sexual and reproductive health, menstrual health and hygiene management, youth health risk behaviours.
Francesca Hopkins is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Health Science at Auckland University of Technology. She teaches yoga in her community and her teaching contributes to the wellbeing of her immediate community. Her goal is to attain deeper connections to the holism of community health and wellbeing through academic qualification. The Health Sciences degree is about providing her with skills and knowledge relating to the public health system here in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
McDonald Nyalapa is a health researcher, from Malawi and Southern Africa, with a passion to improve the health of people in low-income countries in the advent of the double burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Specifically, he is interested in reducing the burden of diabetes in Malawi through locally based interventions and quality diabetes care.
AUT 3MT competition presentation
7th International Visual Methods Conference presentation
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Safua is the Head of New Zealand and Pacific Histories and Cultures at the Te Papa Museum. Previously, she was Director of the Centre for Samoan Studies at the National University of Samoa (2018-20). From 2008-13, she was Curator Pacific Cultures at Te Papa. She is a history graduate from the University of Queensland and has research interests in cultural heritage, health, migration, gender and governance.
Ayan has been working in health promotion and education for over a decade. Her current research aims create a space for young internally displaced Somali women to develop ideas for reproductive health services in Puntland, Somalia. She is currently a PhD student at AUT.
Margaret is an occupational therapist with over 20 years practice experience in children’s rehabilitation working with children with acquired brain injury. Her research is focused on children’s participation in occupation, the social influences on their participation, and the ways participation relates to children’s health, learning and development.
Fern is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Health at AUT. Her main interests are in public health child nutrition, sustainable food systems and the empowerment of children and whānau. Fern’s research aims to explore the healthiness and eco-friendliness of year 6 students’ lunchboxes across socio-economically diverse Auckland schools. Fern is also involved in community and research projects in schools and early learning settings, both through AUT and her enterprise Clean Plate, which provides communities with a holistic approach to healthy eating, wellbeing and sustainability.
Bala is interested in research on vertical public health programmes and ideas that appreciate utilisation of local knowledge for future public health initiatives. His research reflections from India’s healthcare policy design expounds a larger issue of system design. His research looks at sociocultural norms that increased the vulnerability of HRGs to contract HIV, aiming to expand the definitions of HIV from being a communicable disease to a complex sociocultural problem.
Shoba trained as an occupational therapist and mental health clinician and has a special interest in working with immigrant and refugee communities to promote health and well-being. She is currently based in India where she works a freelance academic supporting emerging researchers and clinicians in developing their skills in qualitative research methodologies and writing for publication.
Adetoun has been active in the research and development space for more than a decade in local and international settings. Currently, she is pursuing her doctorate degree at Auckland University of Technology. Her research interests centres on digital health, young people and their sexual and reproductive health needs. Her educational and work experiences complements her skills in quality project delivery and evaluation.
Daysha is currently enrolled in the PhD in international business and aims to explore indigenous experiences of international investment from China in the Pacific, particularly in Samoa. Daysha is also part of research projects that look at sustainable food systems, healthy food environments, response and resilience of young Maori and Pacific women during Covid-19.
Mandie is a lecturer in nursing at AUT's School of Clinical Sciences. Her clinical expertise comes from 30+ years in children and young people’s nursing. Some of her research expertise includes systematic reviews, psychometrics and translational research, and child and family centred care. Some of current research interests include children’s participation, engagement, and voices as consumers of healthcare.
Shabnam is a multi-faceted NZ registered nutritionist, qualified both as a researcher and lecturer. She has had international experience in research, community nutrition, and health promotion at academic and NGO level, working with different health research teams including birth cohort and clinical trial studies.
Patricia integrates 40 years of experience in the fine arts, community development and education, and contemplative education and inquiry in her applied philosophical and arts-based research. She works in the arts and health, most recently with women living with HIV on the Positively Women Project.
Kate's personal, professional, and academic roles have all intersected with her interests in the experiences of children in Aotearoa New Zealand. As a new graduate physiotherapist, she worked with disabled children in their homes and education services in West Auckland. Kate loved connecting with them and their families, however had many questions about the service she was involved in delivering, as well as broader social conditions they experienced. Postgraduate study at the Children’s Issues Centre (Otago) was inspiring and introduced her to new ways of thinking and being with children. She has brought these learnings into teaching at AUT and continue to be curious about how to understand and enhance their experiences.
Mariana is the founder of Tenggara Youth Community, an organisation that provides education on sexual and reproductive health rights for children and adolescents, particularly poor, marginal, socially excluded, and underserved (PMSEU) youth. The organisation also provides assistance to victims of sexual violence in Kupang, Indonesia.
Michael is a lecturer in the school of Clinical Sciences with a background in Paediatric Emergency and Homecare Nursing. His research interests include the moral and ethical tensions inherent in paediatric practice and young people’s right to ‘have a say’ about the things that affect them.
His Doctoral research called “The Creating Space Project” used Participatory Video and Drama to create the literal and metaphorical space to explore young people’s perceptions of Health and well-being . He believes that using creative narrative processes can amplify young people’s voices in order to inform health policy and provision. Michael is also a member of the international ISUPPORT collaborative that has developed rights based standards for children undergoing tests, treatments examinations and interventions.
Fajar works as a case manager DPPM (District Based Public Private Mix) at Yayasan Masyarakat Peduli Tuberculosis (Yamali TB), an NGO that focuses on tuberculosis elimination by collaborating with wider civil society. He manages drug-sensitive TB cases in public and private health services. This includes coordinating medical and psychosocial support, and assessing patient needs by developing individualised case management through advocacy and partnership at district levels. As a public health practitioner, Fajar would like to enhance the involvement of young people in social health and environmental issues, especially for tuberculosis elimination in 2030.
Particular interests: health system strengthening (infectious disease prevention and control), environmental health, and youth empowerment.