Government urged to start official inquiry into pandemic response
Thursday, 22 September 2022 10:02am
Leading University of Otago academics are calling for the launch of an official inquiry into New Zealand’s COVID‑19 pandemic response while memories are clear and lessons can be learnt.
Respiratory diseases lower in homes with retrofitted insulation
Wednesday, 7 September 2022 11:32am
Retrofitting home insulation can reduce the onset of chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma by up to 10 per cent, new University of Otago research shows.
What does poverty look like from a child’s perspective?
Friday, 5 August 2022 11:05am
New research has revealed the “shameful” extent of child poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand.
New Bill marks the beginning of the end for cigarettes and tobacco in Aotearoa
Wednesday, 27 July 2022 8:55am
Researchers from the University of Otago’s ASPIRE 2025 Research Centre, which carries out research to support the Smokefree 2025 goal, welcome the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill that Associate Health Minister Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall introduced to Parliament today.
World-first studies point way to preventing rheumatic fever in Aotearoa and internationally
Wednesday, 6 July 2022 2:16pm
University of Otago-led research has uncovered the strongest evidence yet that household overcrowding is a major risk factor for acute rheumatic fever and streptococcal infections of the skin.
More income support needed for young people experiencing homelessness, study finds
Thursday, 30 June 2022 12:30pm
Life improved for young people experiencing homelessness once they were housed through the Government’s Housing First programme, with fewer admissions to hospital and visits to emergency departments, although their incomes remained stubbornly low, research has found.
Positive reintegration of ex-prisoners’ focus of HRC grant project
Thursday, 30 June 2022 9:17am
Improving the health and wellbeing of Māori who re-enter society from prisons, alongside their whānau and communities, is the aim of a University of Otago project which received Health Research Council of New Zealand funding today.
Cycleways and walking paths boost rates of active travel
Tuesday, 21 June 2022 10:41am
Investing in cycleways and walking paths has boosted the use of active travel in two North Island cities, particularly by Māori and people on low incomes, researchers have found.
Think outside the box on housing for sustainable future, researchers urge
Wednesday, 15 June 2022 11:37am
New Zealand urgently needs to increase the diversity and quality of its housing stock if it is to meet its goal of reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 2030 and meet the needs of our diverse population, researchers at the University of Otago say.
Critic and Conscience of Society Award winner highlights vaping threat to health of young New Zealanders
Tuesday, 3 May 2022 1:52pm
Regulatory loopholes are contributing to increases in the number of young New Zealanders exposed to nicotine through vaping, warns the winner of the 2022 Critic and Conscience of Society Award.
Students shivering inside cold, damp homes, study finds
Thursday, 7 April 2022 9:46am
Tertiary students are more than twice as likely as the general population to be living in damp and mouldy homes, a study by researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington has found.
The price of keeping kids warm at night
Wednesday, 30 March 2022 10:59am
The cost of heating a child’s bedroom through the night in a Wellington winter would run through 46 per cent of the government’s Winter Energy Payment, which is paid to qualifying beneficiaries and all superannuitants to help with heating costs, a study by researchers at the University of Otago, Wellington has found.
Nitrate levels in drinking water and bowel cancer
Friday, 4 March 2022 11:35am
The formation of cancer-causing chemicals in the gut could be at the heart of understanding how high levels of nitrate in our drinking water contribute to increasing the risk of bowel (colorectal) cancer, New Zealand researchers say.
Vaccination programme failing those with mental health and addiction issues
Friday, 25 February 2022 3:12pm
New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out is failing to reach those with mental health and addiction issues, despite their inclusion in a priority group for vaccination, researchers have found.
Reimagining school uniforms
Thursday, 27 January 2022 9:39am
School uniforms need a radical redesign to better meet the needs of students, particularly for girls, who are often forced to wear uniforms that prevent them from being physically active in their lunch breaks and from cycling to and from school, a public health researcher says.
Call to report bottled water quality results on labels
Thursday, 13 January 2022 9:28am
Bottled water is often perceived as clean and free of contaminants compared to tap water, but University of Otago researchers believe water quality results need to be printed on the label.
Discrimination placing LGBTIQ+ people at risk of homelessness
Tuesday, 21 December 2021 10:17am
Discrimination in the housing market, as well as structural issues such as poverty, racism and instability, are placing Takatāpui and LGBTIQ+ people at higher risk of homelessness, researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington, have found.
‘Breakthrough’ Otago research confirms skin infections as a cause of rheumatic fever
Monday, 20 December 2021 9:39am
University of Otago researchers have made a major breakthrough in further understanding acute rheumatic fever, showing that skin infections are likely to be a significant cause of the disease.
New Smokefree Action Plan will transform tobacco policy, Otago researchers say
Thursday, 9 December 2021 3:10pm
Researchers from the University of Otago’s ASPIRE 2025 Research Centre, which carries out research to support the Smokefree 2025 goal, warmly welcome the Smokefree Action Plan announced earlier today by Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall.
Otago announces Professorial promotions for 2022
Monday, 22 November 2021 10:28am
Twenty-eight University of Otago academics are being promoted to the position of professor this year.
Housing researchers win the Rutherford Medal, NZ’s top research honour
Thursday, 18 November 2021 10:50am
Distinguished Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman CNZM QSO FRSNZ and researchers at the He Kāinga Oranga – Housing and Health Research Programme at the University of Otago, Wellington, have been awarded the 2021 Rutherford Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Nitrate in drinking water could cause up to 100 cases of bowel cancer in NZ
Monday, 8 November 2021 1:03pm
Nitrate contamination of drinking water could cause up to 100 cases of bowel cancer in New Zealand every year, leading to 40 deaths, New Zealand research has estimated.
Clearing the air: make more outdoor pedestrian spaces smokefree, researchers urge
Friday, 22 October 2021 11:08am
Creating large smokefree outdoor pedestrian spaces would aid the health sector’s efforts to help people quit smoking, researchers say.
Vaping with nicotine more common than smoking among NZ teens
Monday, 18 October 2021 10:58am
More than a third of New Zealand high school students have tried vaping, with 10 per cent vaping regularly and six per cent vaping weekly or more often, researchers have found.
