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Our programmes are comprehensive and multidisciplinary. They prepare students to make creative and practical contributions to improving the health of individuals, whānau and communities. Our School teaches across a range of disciplines including biological and clinical sciences in health, environmental health, occupational health and safety, and population health and policy.
Our research is focused on the science of promoting health, improving quality of life and our environment, and reducing health inequalities and disease for individuals, whānau and communities.
Studying my degree has enabled me to work as an Environmental Health Officer. This has allowed me to put my knowledge into practice. Work alongside communities and providers selling food and making sure they do this safely. The help and support received from staff, lecturers and other students was invaluable in completing my degree.
Betty Holden
Bachelor of Health Science (Double Major in Integrated Human Health and Environmental Health)
Massey University is like a big family. You get enormous support from everybody, every day.
Grace Chen
Junior Research Officer, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University
Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health
Studying extramurally at Massey University enabled me to pace my study within other commitments and gave me access to experienced supervisors. I could largely independently pace my work providing I stayed within our set timelines. The knowledge I gained has contributed largely to my governance and director roles.
Grant Plumbley
Master of Health Science
Working in health and safety provides a hugely diverse experience where you find yourself working with many different people addressing many different aspects of work.
Greg Dearsly
Graduate Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health
One of the services that helped me significantly as a distance student was Massey's online learning platform. The Stream site provided me with the opportunity to connect peers and teaching staff, watch online lectures, lessons or presentations, submit assessments and much much more.
Ian Militoni
Bachelor of Health Science (Integrated Human Health)
I chose to study at Massey because of the high calibre of supervisors in the Master of Public Health programme. My decision proved to be right as I had a supervisor who had the knowledge and expertise to effectively support my academic journey.
Josette McAllister
Master in Public Health
Massey has provided me with the course I want to do, at the place I want to do it. With all the support provided, I don't feel like a distance student and I never feel like I'm in it alone.
Kelcie Mills
Bachelor of Health Science (Occupational Health and Safety)
I recommend studying at Massey University because it allowed me to learn about everything that contributes to health and wellbeing, but also the real world application of this knowledge that allows you to work in the health field.
Maddie Ryan
Bachelor of Health Science (Integrated Human Health)
The convenience of distance learning and flexibility gave me the opportunity to excel in my career path as an Outreach Community Health Worker. With Massey University, I was able to achieve the desired outcome, the completion of my ‘tohu’ in Public Health and Health Promotion.
Marlene Whaanga-Dean
Certificate in Public Health
I chose Massey University to do my studies due to the fact that I could do my course via distance learning, and still work full-time. Juggling mahi and study had its moments but with the support of the tutors and support services, I got through.
Michelle Martin
Certificate in Public Health
The staff at Massey University helped me find my way and set me in the right direction to achieve what I wanted. There is no doubt that without the support from my lecturers I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Monique Goodhew
Bachelor of Health Science (Environmental Health)
The high calibre of professors and lecturers in the data analytics group and the high international reputation of Massey University made it a university of choice for my study.
Muyiwa Olayemi
Master of Analytics (Health)
What I’ve enjoyed most about my studies is the way Massey embraces students and clearly makes an effort to give them the best experience possible. The lecturers and other staff are very supportive of their students.
Omar Masoud Albalawi
Bachelor of Health Science
I enjoy working in health sciences because it is multidisciplinary field, which deals with human and animal health. I am passionate about the study, research, and knowledge of health and the application of that knowledge to improve health and cure diseases, and to understand how humans and animals function.
Saima Rizwan
Doctor of Philosophy
My studies have taught me that you don’t need to be a veterinarian to help animals; Physiology is a broad degree with many possible routes which all have a focus on improving the health of humans and animals.
Sophia Holdsworth
Bachelor of Science (Physiology)
Massey support in terms of allocating a supervisory team and providing regular scholarships and financial support during PhD study has been outstanding for an international student like me.
Sudesh Raj Sharma
Doctor of Philosophy
My study journey with Massey was fun. The courses provided opportunities to explore relevant analytic skills and tools, to meet people in the industry and see how things work in the real-world.
Zoe Poon
Master of Analytics (Health)
The following research centres are associated with the School of Health Sciences. Find out more about their research and staff.
IOSH (UK) is the largest OSH practitioner professional association outside the United States. Our Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety is the only NZ tertiary qualification accredited by IOSH (UK). Students who complete this qualification will meet the academic requirement for Graduate Membership to IOSH(UK). Membership then leads to registration as an OHS practitioner.
Massey University is ranked in the top 300 universities in the world and fourth in New Zealand in the subject area of public health by the Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects. The ranking is determined by a series of indicators such as the number of papers authored by an institution in an academic subject, international collaboration on papers, and the number of staff winning awards in an academic subject.
Rachel has over 25 years of experience in leadership, learning and teaching and research. She has had a number of leadership roles that have implemented change and growth within the organisation. Her current research focuses on preventing and improving health outcomes especially in areas of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Rachel has extensive experience in supervision of Postgraduate students and loves making science relevant and accessible to students at all levels of academia.
The School of Health Sciences is one of four interconnected units in the College of Health.
The School of Health Sciences has appointed a number of experts in their field to contribute to the education of its students.
Adjunct Associate Professor Janya McCalman is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Indigenous Health Equity Research at Central Queensland University, Australia. The core of her research resides in Indigenous health. Her expertise includes Aboriginal mental health and wellbeing, youth health, health services research, integrated care, health promotion and implementation research.
Dr Janya McCalman
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences
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Dr Stuart J McLaren teaches and conducts research in the fields of environmental and occupational health. He is the recipient of the prestigious Taiwan Fellowship 2019 awarded by the Government of Taiwan – an award not usually given to scientists. He is currently based at the Kaohsiung Medical University in the Research Center for Environmental Medicine, where he is undertaking research related to noise and acoustics in early education - the first study of its kind in Taiwan.
Dr Stuart J McLaren
Adjunct Senior Lecturer
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Adjunct Associate Professor Brigette Meehan is a fellow of interRAI and employed by interRAI Services at TAS, Wellington. interRAI is an international collaborative to improve the quality of life of vulnerable people. interRAI’s comprehensive assessment system collects and interprets data about the characteristics and outcomes of people receiving services in a variety of health and social service settings. Dr Meehan’s work promotes evidence-informed clinical decision making for individuals and using aggregated assessment data for research, and local or national policy and planning initiatives.
Dr Brigette Meehan
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences
Adjunct Associate Professor Michael Wyatt is a Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon Scientist. He moved with his family to the Manawatū in early 2018 after completing post FRACS training in Exeter, Switzerland and London. His clinical practise is at MidCentral DHB and Aorangi Orthopaedic Centre. He has expertise in hip and knee replacement surgery, trauma and hip preservation surgery. The subject of his doctorate was High-Performance Total Hip Replacements. He is also interested in surgical team work and safety, basic science and translational research.
Dr Michael Wyatt
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences
Lieutenant Colonel Phill Wright is a serving Regular Force Officer within the New Zealand Army and internationally recognised expert on health risk management strategies. Appointed to Massey University as an Adjunct Associate Professor in December 2017, he currently develops and delivers the Environmental Health Risk Management in Disasters paper. He is a fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management (UK) and a member of the International Institute of Risk Safety Management. As a qualified Environmental Health Officer, he currently sits on the National Council of the New Zealand Institute of Environmental Health (NZIEH).
Lieutenant Colonel Phill Wright
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer Mat Walton is with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (ESR) which is New Zealand’s Crown Research Institute for science relating to people and communities. He specialises in the application of systems and complexity theories to social, environmental and policy research.
Dr Mat Walton
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Health Sciences
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Adjunct Associate Professor Leonie Walker was a Principal Researcher for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation from 2008 to 2017. Her research is mainly in health promotion and the nursing workforce. Her expertise includes health inequalities, international health promotion, HIV/AIDS, addictions and diabetes.
Dr Leonie Walker
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences
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Professor Emeritus Roger Lentle pioneered research methods in the field of digestive biomechanics. He has published extensively in his field. He has over 140 publications in peer reviewed journals with more than 2000 citations as well as an academic book ‘The physical processes of digestion’. He is Co-Editor in Chief of the journal ‘Food Digestion’.
Dr Roger Lentle
Professor Emeritus, School of Health Sciences
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Adjunct Professor Barbara Burlingame is a nutrition scientist and one of the world’s leading specialists in nutrition and food systems. She joined Massey after retiring as Deputy Director of Nutrition at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, where she worked for 16 years. In addition to public health nutrition and food systems, her expertise includes food composition, biodiversity for food and nutrition, and sustainable diets.
Dr Barbara Burlingame
Adjunct Professor, School of Health Sciences
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer Stan E Abbott is recognised as an expert in many aspects of rainwater harvesting at national and international levels. His area of expertise is environmental microbiology and he has published and presented numerous papers on a variety of recreational and drinking water quality monitoring projects.
Stanley Abbott
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Health Sciences
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Associate Professor Martin Hyde is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Innovative Ageing at Swansea University (Wales). He received his 1st Class Bachelor’s degree (Sociology and Politics) and Masters with Distinction (Sociology and Research Methods) from the University of Bristol and his PhD (Sociology of Ageing) from University College London. He has worked at some of the most renown research institutes in Europe, including Imperial College London, University College London, the Karolinksa Institute, University of Manchester and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies.
Associate Professor Martin Hyde
Associate Professor
First year health sciences student Kelcie Mills was awarded Zespri's inaugural $15,000 three-year scholarship after submitting an essay outlining the far-reaching effects of improved workplace health and safety practices in New Zealand.
Kelcie Mills
2018
$15,000 Zespri scholarship
Rose Mwipiko is the winner of the 2019 NZ Esri Young Scholar Award which recognises the very best GIS students around the globe. Rose's project uses ArcGIS to explore the effects of the built environment on depression in the Wellington Region.
Rose Mwipiko
2019
2019 NZ Esri Young Scholar Award
Dr Marta Rychert from Massey University’s Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation and Whāriki Research Centre has been awarded almost $250,000 from the Health Research Council (HRC) of New Zealand to explore medicinal cannabis use in New Zealand.
Dr Marta Rychert
2019
HRC Funding for medicinal cannabis research
Victoria Chinn and Christine Roseveare, from the School of Health Sciences, have been awarded Associate Fellow status.
Victoria Chinn and Christine Roseveare
2018
Higher Education Academy Fellowships
Professor John Potter, from Massey University’s Centre for Public Health Research, has been named in the top one per cent of most cited scientists in the world. Professor Potter’s career has focused on nutrition, other environmental and host factors, and genetics in the aetiology (cause of disease or condition), pathobiology (the biology of disease), and early detection of cancers and other chronic diseases.
Professor John Potter
2019
Highly Cited Researchers 2018
The second edition of Pharmacology in Nursing: Australian and New Zealand won the Tertiary (Adaptations): Student Resource Category at the Educational Publishing Awards Australia. Head of the School of Health Sciences, Associate Professor Rachel Page wrote 17 chapters.
Associate Professor Rachel Page
2017
Massey academic’s book wins Educational Publishing Award
Dr Collette Bromhead was appointed chief executive of the New Zealand Organisation of Rare Diseases (NZORD). The health advocacy organisation represents the interests of New Zealanders affected by rare disorders by promoting research and partnering with clinicians to improve diagnostics, treatments and support.
Dr Collette Bromhead
2017
Massey lecturer appointed head of rare diseases organisation
School of Health Sciences senior tutor and PhD candidate Ying Jin has been awarded a Zonta grant, sponsored by Graduate Women Manawatū Charitable Trust, to attend and present her research at the 13th?European Nutrition Conference in Ireland in October.
Ying Jin
2019
Zonta grant allows Ying Jin to present research in Ireland