Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon
Skip to main content

University Links

Position
Assistant Research Fellow
Qualifications
MPH
Research summary
Qualitative community-based health research and medical education
Teaching
Medical humanities, medical education (transgender and non-binary competencies, rainbow health)
Memberships
Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa

Research

Cassie Withey-Rila (they/them) began conducting transgender health research during their Master of Public Health (Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago), and has continued that work for the School of Social Sciences and Faculty of Medicine. As an immigrant of European ancestry who is always learning, Cassie works to build community within transgender, queer, and disability justice spaces, striving to do so with an anti-racist and anti-colonist lens.

Cassie currently teaches on trans health for the Faculty of Medicine ALM4 Public Health module in Dunedin, conduct community-centred research for the Trans Heart Health Project through the Department of Medicine in Christchurch, and picks up teaching in the medical humanities whenever the opportunity presents itself. Cassie provides consultation on manuscripts, study design, and curriculum development, to support accurately capturing the contexts of transgender, non-binary, and intersex people and their experiences of health and healthcare.

Publications

Withey-Rila, C. (2025, September). Normalising and knowledge: How we can improve health equity through inclusive research and practice. Verbal presentation at the Queenstown Research Week (QRW) Heart Satellite Meeting, Christchurch, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Scott, D., Derrett, S., Rupel, V. P., Jelsma, J., Gurung, G., Oduro, G. Y., & Withey-Rila, C. (2025). He/she/they: Gender inclusivity in developing and using health-related questionnaires: A scoping review. Quality of Life Research, 34, 67-87. doi: 10.1007/s11136-024-03765-2 Journal - Research Article

Wilson, H., Withey-Rila, C., Williamson, M., Dowell, T., Ross, J., & Kleinstauber, M. (2024, March). Helping medical students gain confidence and competence for chronic pain and other persistent somatic symptoms: Research, training workshops and a basket of resources (“Te Kete”). Poster session presented at the New Zealand Pain Society (NZPS) Annual Scientific Meeting: Empowering Pain Management in New Zealand, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Poster Presentation (not in published proceedings)

Wardell, S., & Withey-Rila, C. (2024). A critical analysis of trans-visibility through online medical crowdfunding. Social Science & Medicine, 345, 116682. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116682 Journal - Research Article

Wardell, S., Starling, L., & Withey-Rila, C. (2024). Fat and deserving: Navigating the visibility and visuality of non-normative bodies in online medical crowdfunding. Fat Studies, 13(1), 79-98. doi: 10.1080/21604851.2023.2283955 Journal - Research Article

Back to top