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Contact Details

Email
emma.wyeth@otago.ac.nz
Position
Professor (Māori Health) and Co-Director of Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit
Iwi affiliations
Kāi Tahu, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga
Qualifications
BSc(Hons) PhD
Research summary
Māori health; health inequities; injury and disability; health systems and engagement; genetic research
Teaching

The majority of Emma’s teaching is focused on hauora Māori within a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate papers taught in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine.

Memberships

Emma is a member of numerous committees and advisory boards both internal and external to the University. Of note are her membership on the:

  • Statutory Māori Health Committee of the HRC
  • Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki Alternate Representative for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
  • Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Committee
  • WellSouth Primary Health Network Board

Research

Emma is the Director of Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora Māori o Ngāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit) and an Associate Professor in Māori Health, both in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine.

Emma has a range of research expertise and interests within the field of hauora Māori.

She is currently the Principal Investigator on the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC)-funded POIS-10 Māori: Outcomes and experiences in the decade following injury study (2019-2022) and the Co-Principal Investigator of the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study: 10 years on (POIS-10) study (also funded by the HRC; 2019-2022). She is also the Co-Principal Investigator of the Trauma Outcomes Project (funded by the Health Quality and Safety Commission and the National Trauma Network). She has previously held a HRC Emerging Researcher First Grant (2014-2017) entitled Maori Disability Outcomes: Pathways and Experiences After Injury. She was also a Co-Deputy Director of New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (2016-2018).

Emma is involved in a range of other research projects with the majority focused on understanding and improving Maori health outcomes, and experiences and engagement within the health system. Other projects include the University of Otago Research Theme Poutama Ara Rau (Principal Investigator) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand-funded Subsequent Injury Study (SInS): Improving outcomes for injured New Zealanders (Named Investigator).

Emma is a former HRC Eru Pōmare Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. As part of her fellowship, Emma worked with Professor Sarah Derrett on the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study (POIS), which was HRC-funded 2007–2013 and ACC co-funded 2007-2010, leading the Māori qualitative and quantitative components of POIS investigating the outcomes and experiences after injury for a group of injured Māori:
Prospective Outcomes of Injury study blog

Emma is also a former Co-Investigator (Māori Health) in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a longitudinal study of 1,037 babies born in Dunedin during 1972-1973 (The Dunedin Study):
Dunedin Study website

Emma joined the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine as an Assistant Research Fellow in 2007 after submitting her PhD in Genetics, which primarily focused on the genetic association of rheumatoid arthritis and gout for Māori. Her PhD thesis also explored Māori views of science, in particular genetic research.

Additional details

Emma was also the inaugural Programme Leader – Research and Development for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (2011–2013), which involved identifying key opportunities and developing and implementing collaborative research projects across the Ngāi Tahu Group.

Publications

King, H., Derrett, S., Wyeth, E. H., Cunningham, R., & Peterson, D. (2026). Integrated care within New Zealand's specialist mental health and addiction services: Qualitative research to inform a new model. Community Mental Health Journal. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s10597-026-01623-8 Journal - Research Article

Radka, K., Derrett, S., & Wyeth, E. (2026). Experiences of racial discrimination: Qualitative findings from injured New Zealand migrants. Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s10903-026-01871-6 Journal - Research Article

Owen, H., Wyeth, E., & Derrett, S. (2025). “It limits me from participating in life to the fullest”: Older New Zealanders’ experiences of ongoing problems 12-years post-injury. Proceedings of the New Zealand Association of Gerontology (NZAG) Conference: Ageing Together. (pp. 27). Retrieved from http://gerontology.org.nz Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

McCarty, G., Maclennan, K., Derrett, S., Sullivan, T., Crengle, S., & Wyeth, E. (2025). Kia Whakatōmuri te Haere Whakanua: Applying an Indigenous qualitative method with rangatahi Māori and whānau. MAI Journal, 14(2), 251-264. doi: 10.20507/MAIJournal.2025.14.2.11 Journal - Research Article

Sullivan, T. A., Wyeth, E. H., Turner, R. M., Hansen, P., Ombler, F., Devlin, N. J., & Derrett, S. (2025). Can adolescents value the EQ-5D-Y-5L and EQ-5D-5L, and how do the values compare? A feasibility study. Value in Health, 28(6), 936-944. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2025.02.013 Journal - Research Article

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