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Contact Details

Phone
+64 4 385 5541 ext 6477
Email
louise.signal@otago.ac.nz
Position
Professor
Department
Department of Public Health (Wellington)
Qualifications
BA (Massey) MSocSc (Waik) PhD (Tor)
Research summary
Health Promotion

Research

Professor Louise Signal is currently Head of the Department of Public Health, Louise is also a Director of the Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit at the University of Otago, Wellington as well as Co-Director of Te Rōpū Rangahau ō Te Kāhui Matepukupuku: Cancer Society Research Collaboration. Louise is a social scientist with a PhD in Community Health from the University of Toronto. She has been a member of the Department of Public Health for over 20 years and has previous experience working at central and local government in health promotion and community development.

Professor Signal’s research focuses on identifying and addressing environmental determinants of health. Her research has a strong focus on equity for Māori, Pacific and low-income communities. Key research areas include the politics of health and health equity, obesity prevention and addressing harm from alcohol and sun exposure. Her research utilises qualitative research methods, policy research and mixed method research design. Professor Signal was principal investigator on an innovative research project that studied the world children live in – Kids’ Cam, which used automated cameras to record children’s worlds.

Publications

McGlinchy, B., Smith, M., Gurtner, M., D'Souza, A., Hoek, J., & Signal, L. (2025). Clearing the haze: Novel methodology objectively assessing children's online exposure to tobacco and vape marketing. Health Promotion International, 40, daae193. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daae193 Journal - Research Article

Gurtner, M., Gage, R., Smith, M., Stanley, J., & Signal, L. (2025). Child's-eye views of smartphone-based gaming content: Objective insights from Aotearoa New Zealand. Health Promotion International, 40, daae195. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daae195 Journal - Research Article

Watkins, L., Aitken, R., Gage, R., & Signal, L. (2025). In-school marketing: The nature, extent, and ethics of children's commercial exposure. Journal of Macromarketing. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/02761467251316137 Journal - Research Article

Puloka, V., Smith, M., Ferguson, A., Gage, R., Signal, L., & Baker, M. (2024, September). Identifying infectious disease risk factors for Tongan children: A wearable camera study. Verbal presentation at the Pacific Islands Health Research Symposium, Nadi, Fiji. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Puloka, V., Puloka, A., Lambert, M., & Signal, L. (2024). Polokalama Fekumi ki he Kanisā 'o e Halanga-me'atokoní—Ko e vakai 'a e Tongá: Tongan New Zealanders' views on how to ensure the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme works well for the Tongan community. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 137(1604), 53-61. Retrieved from https://nzmj.org.nz/ Journal - Research Article

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