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Contact Details

Email
nevil.pierse@otago.ac.nz
Position
Research Professor
Department
Department of Public Health (Wellington)
Qualifications
BSc (Maths and Stats), MSc (Statistics), PhD
Research summary
Biostatistics in public health; health and housing

Research

Professor Nevil Pierse is co-leader of He Kāinga Oranga – Housing and Health Research Programme.

Originally a statistician by training, his current work is done in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders including government and community organisations and is focused on the design and implementation of natural experiments to improve the home and community environments. Nevil and the research team was awarded a Prime Minister's Science Prize in 2014 for this work.

He is currently working on the Healthy Housing Initiative, which looks at home interventions to prevent re-hospitalisation of children with housing-related disease. This programme has accessed and remediated over 30,000 homes in New Zealand and resulted in a decrease of nearly 10,000 hospital admissions. The Healthy Housing Initiative was awarded the Prime Minister's Spirit of Service Award in 2019.

Nevil also leads a programme looking at optimising the housing system, especially for those without housing. He works closely with a leading exemplar of this approach, The People's Project in Hamilton. Nevil has a keen interest in big data and leads five housing and health projects on the integrated data infrastructure. In 2021 this research group was awarded the Rutherford Medal for the quality and impact of their work.

More information on The People's Project

Publications

Yu, C., Aspinall, C., Le Gros, L., Fraser, B., Buchanan, M., Howden-Chapman, P., O'Sullivan, K., & Pierse, N. (2026). Tenure trajectories of children and young people in Aotearoa New Zealand between 2013-2022. Journal of Youth Studies. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2026.2731458 Journal - Research Article

Johnson, E., Pierse, N., Howden-Chapman, P., Leabourn, G., West, M., Davies, C., Baker, M. G., & Chisholm, E. (2026). Impact of housing improvements on childhood hospitalization rates in a large cohort of low-income families in New Zealand. Social Science & Medicine, 407, 119694. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119694 Journal - Research Article

Ombler, J., Fasoro, A., Pierse, N., Paul, J., Aspinall, C., & Howden-Chapman, P. (2026). Seven ways housing policy is moving backwards on health and human rights. The Briefing, (12 August). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/seven-ways-housing-policy-moving-backwards-health-and-human-rights Journal - Research Other

Yu, C., Bierre, S., Pehi, T., & Pierse, N. (2026). Continued tenancy in public housing and youth justice outcomes: Evidence from New Zealand. Social Policy & Administration. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/spol.70093 Journal - Research Article

Bierre, S., O'Sullivan, K., Paul, J., Atatoa Carr, P., & Pierse, N. (2026). Move-on orders will criminalise children experiencing homelessness. The Briefing, (15 June). Retrieved from https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/move-orders-will-criminalise-children-experiencing-homelessness Journal - Research Other

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