MEET THE TEAM
TEAM IMMCOR
ImmCoR is a network of individuals dedicated to protecting and improving the health of all people living in Aotearoa New Zealand. Members share a common goal of identifying causal factors, developing solutions, and advancing evidence-based research to promote equitable vaccine uptake.
The network comprises a diverse group of academics, students, healthcare providers, Māori and Pacific community partners, and key stakeholders from Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Health.
Membership in ImmCoR is by invitation. However, if you are passionate about contributing to our mission, we warmly invite you to Contact Us to express your interest in joining the network.
Current ImmCoR Members
ImmCoR co-chair
Amber Young
amber.young@otago.ac.nz
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6800-1454
Amber is a researcher and Senior Lecturer with the University of Otago. Her research
focuses on health equity, maternal vaccination, and quality use of medicines. She is
interested in how people learn about medicines, vaccinations, and their health and how
their knowledge can be improved. She is also interested in health equity research using
qualitative methods.
ImmCoR co-chair
Samantha Marsh
sam.marsh@auckland.ac.nz
Samantha is a senior research fellow in the Department of General Practice and
Primary Care and has been a faculty member within the School of Population Health
since 2016. Her research focuses on child and youth health and well-being. Sam is also
a member of the Triple R research group focused on influenza, and the Vaccine
Preventable Diseases research group at the University of Auckland.
Member
Amy Chan
Dr Amy Chan is Associate Professor and Respiratory lead of the Medicines Intelligence group at the School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland. Her vast fields of research include: respiratory and infectious diseases, digital health, artificial intelligence, psychiatry, as well as data management and data science.
Member
Angela Chan
Angela is the Immunisation Advisory Centre’s East Health Trust PHO Cold Chain & Clinical Assessments ProCare Practice Nurse Advisor. She has a strong interest in immunisations and joins as a healthcare professional in this setting.
Member
Anna Howe
Anna is a Senior Lecturer in epidemiology at the University of Canterbury and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Auckland. Her primary fields of research include vaccine preventable disease epidemiology, immunisation coverage, and maternal and child health.
Member
Arti Chandra
Arti.Chandra@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Arti is a Manager in the National Public Health Service focused on Prevention Systems and Quality Improvement Programmes. Arti joins the team as a leader in the preventative space and with an interest in immunisation.
Member
Caroline Hart
Dr Caroline Hart is a consultant paediatrician working as a principal clinical advisor in the National Immunisation Team. Caroline has over 30 years experience of working with children with vaccine preventable diseases, and is a strong advocate for improving vaccine delivery to our communities.
Member
Cass Byrnes
Catherine (Cass) Byrnes is an Associate Professor in the Paediatric Department of the University of Auckland and a Paediatric Respiratory Specialist at Starship Children's Health & Kidz First Hospital. Her fields of research primarily include paediatrics, respiratory diseases and health equity.
Member
Christine McIntosh
christine.mcintosh@auckland.ac.nz
Dr Christine is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland. Their field of research is primarily focused on infant and child health, community and primary care, as well as respiratory diseases.
Member
Claudelle Pillay
Claudelle.Pillay@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Claudelle works for the National Public health Service as an Immunisation Nurse Leader and the Team Leader of the Counties Manukau Aotearoa Immunisation Register Team.
Member
Ellaine Rasch
Ellaine.Rasch@auckland.ac.nz
Ellaine works as a Senior Pacific Advisor for the Immunisation Advisory Centre.
Member
Emma Best
e.best@auckland.ac.nz
ORCHID ID 0000-0002-2667-5458
Emma is Paediatric Infectious disease specialist at Starship Children's Health and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Department of Paediatrics Child and Youth Health at the University of Auckland. She works as a medial advisor at the IMAC and has ongoing research and clinical interest in vaccine preventable disease and child health.
Member
Esther Willing
esther.willing@otago.ac.nz
Esther is an Associate Professor and Director Kōhatu Centre for Hauora Māori at the University of Otago. Her research interests include health policy and health systems research and she is passionate about improving Māori health outcomes and addressing health inequities in Aotearoa. She currently is involved in research on immunisation uptake and coverage for hapu māmā and tamariki, guidelines for prioritising intensive care resources to support equity and discourse and framing of Māori health.
Member
Ewan Smith
ewan.smith@auckland.ac.nz
Ewan is a Data Analyst for the Immunisation Advisory Centre.
Member
Dr Felicity Ware
Felicity.Ware@hapai.co.nz
Dr Ware is an indigenous mother with whakapapa to Ngāpuhi and raising three tamariki with whakapapa to Ngāi Tahu and Sāmoa and te reo as their first language. Felicity is experienced in kaupapa Māori and whānau-centred solutions to elevate the health and wellbeing of iwi, hāpu, whānau, and Māori communities, with expertise in the hauora of māmā and pēpi. Dr Ware leads the research unit at Hāpai te Hauora the largest Māori public health NGO in Aotearoa. She is also an independent researcher with Pūhoro STEMM Academy supporting rangatahi Māori in science and innovation. Felicity has a strong commitment to community which enables her to share knowledge and best practice in practical, meaningful and mana-enhancing ways. She is a founding member of Mokopuna ora an initiative in the Midcentral region promoting health and wellbeing from conception with māmā, pēpi and whānau through weaving wahakura.
Member
Gabrielle McDonald
gabrielle.mcdonald@otago.ac.nz
Dr Gabrielle is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago as well as a public health physician. Much of her research has to date centred around mortality review and systems and structures that contribute to inequitable outcomes.
Member
Huti Watson
huti.watson@npo.org.nz
Huti is the General Manager for Ngati Porou Oranga Centre of Excellence Te Rangawairua o Paratena Ngata, and oversees a range of health research and population / health promotion activities under the auspices of Ngati Porou Oranga, a subsidiary of Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou.
Member
Isabella Hills
Isabella.hills@auckland.ac.nz
Isabella is a research assistant for the Immunisation Advisory Centre and a member of the Triple R project. Her research interest areas include access to care, vaccinations and data equity.
Member
Jacinta Fa’alili-Fidow
Jacinta@moanaconnect.co.nz
Malaetogia Dr. Jacinta has extensive leadership and management experience in health research, public health and Pacific wellbeing in New Zealand. Her work aims to bridge government, academia and Pacific communities to champion authentic positive change for Pacific. As the founding Managing Director of Moana Research, Jacinta empowers the importance of Pacific world-views, and the prominence of self-determination in all Moana Research work, including evaluation, research and advocacy.
Member
Janine Paynter
j.paynter@auckland.ac.nz
Janine is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. She is a scientist with expertise in epidemiology, data science and observational studies. Her current research focuses on immunisation and acute respiratory disease such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and pertussis.
Member
Jason Alexander
Jason.Alexander@Hapai.co.nz
Jason is the Chief Operating Officer at Hapai Te Hauora. He has worked in Māori Health for over 10 years but has a background in technology, Jason combines these two interest areas to seek new solutions to old problems.
Member
Jo Fowler
Johanna.Fowler@health.govt.nz
I am a registered comprehensive nurse and all of life vaccinator with a predominantly primary care background currently working for the national immunisation office supporting the sector to offer immunisations to communities throughout Aotearoa.
Member
Jo Hilder
jo.hilder@otago.ac.nz
Jo is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago Wellington. An applied linguist with skills in interactional linguistics and conversation analysis, she is a member of the ARCH (Applied Research in Communication in Health) Group.
Member
Lisa Connor
lconnor@malaghan.org.nz
Dr Lisa Connor is the head of the Connor Laboratory and Programme Leader of the Infection and Vaccinology Group at the Malaghan Institute. Her research focuses on the immunobiology of vaccination, aiming to build better vaccines by understanding fundamental mechanisms of immune activation.
Member
Loretta Roberts
l.roberts@auckland.ac.nz
Loretta Roberts is the National Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre. She has worked for IMAC for the past 20 years; her most recent role was as National Manager for seven years. Loretta has an extensive background in nursing, education, and maternal-child health, having practiced across a number of locations in Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Aotearoa New Zealand. She has used her organisational experience, clinical knowledge, and management skills to support and lead the IMAC team to deliver their wide range of immunisation services.
Member
Lorraine Castelino
lorraine.castelino@auckland.ac.nz
I am a Research Programme Manager at the University of Auckland, leading multiple health research projects focused on improving outcomes and advancing equity. I'm a psychologist with over 20 years of experience working across the health sector, with expertise in public health, mental health, suicide prevention, and child and youth mortality prevention. My career spans roles in health boards and academia, driving initiatives that translate research into meaningful policy and practice impact.
Member
Mamaeroa David
mamaeroa.david@auckland.ac.nz
Mamaeroa (Mae) is a General Practitioner as well as the Senior Māori Advisor at the Immunisation Advisory centre. She has also joined the Triple R team investigating risk, resilience and response to influenza.
Member
Professor Maria Stubbe
maria.stubbe@otago.ac.nz
Maria is Director of the Applied Research on Communication in Health (ARCH) Group at Otago University. She is a social scientist with expertise in qualitative/mixed methods health research and evaluation, and is a member of the Triple R programme researching responses to influenza and other respiratory viruses.
Member
Mary Roberts
mary@moanaconnect.co.nz
Mary, currently the CEO and formerly the General Manager for the Moana Learning Vaka post-rebranding in 2022 from Moana Research to Moana Connect, possesses extensive experience in management, community engagement, and strategy. Her background as a registered nurse has facilitated effective leadership in research and evaluation projects, widespread dissemination of insights and findings to the community and stakeholders, and advocacy for Pacific families and communities.
Member
Matthew Hobbs
matthew.hobbs@shu.ac.uk
Dr Matt Hobbs is an Associate Professor and Transforming Lives Fellow in Spatial Data Science and Planetary Health at Sheffield Hallam University. He is also based at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre and holds an adjunct appointment as a Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Health, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
His research focuses on spatial data science and lifecourse epidemiology, with a particular emphasis on the environmental and social determinants of health. He conducts applied, equity-focused research aimed at improving population health, and actively supports the development of early career researchers in a collaborative and supportive academic environment.
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Member
Nadia Charania
nadia.charania@aut.ac.nz
Nadia is an Associate Professor in Public Health at Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa New Zealand. She is also the Deputy Director of the New Zealand Policy Research Institute and Co-Director of the Migrant and Refugee Health Research Centre at AUT.
Nadia's research aims to reduce inequities in health care access among marginalised populations and inform improvements to health systems. She has expertise in critical qualitative, quantitative, and participatory methodologies, and engaging with Indigenous communities and communities with migrant and refugee backgrounds. She is leading research related to access and experiences of maternal and childhood health services; vaccine attitudes and behaviours; and community-based pandemic planning.
Member
Natalie Gauld
n.gauld@auckland.ac.nz
Natalie is a Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland in the area of paediatrics.
Member
Nigel French
N.P.French@massey.ac.nz
Nigel is Distinguished Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Public Health at Massey University, New Zealand. He is Emeritus Director - Tangata Tiriti of Te Niwha, the Infectious Diseases Research Platform and Emeritus Director of the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre. His main research interests are: Molecular and genomic epidemiology, pathogen evolution, ecosystem health, food and environmental pathogens.
Member
Nikki Turner
n.turner@auckland.ac.nz
Nikki is an academic General Practitioner. She is a Professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care and Principal Medical Advisor for the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC), at the University of Auckland. She has developed and evolved IMAC from its inception in 1996 into a national communication, coordination, education and research centre. She works part time as a General Practitioner for Team Medical on the Kapiti Coast. Nikki's academic interests are in immunisation, primary health care and preventive child health.
Member
Pauline Dawson
pauline.dawson@otago.ac.nz
Pauline is a practising midwife whose aim is to improve outcomes and experiences for families through their childbearing journey. She centres equity in all her work.
Pauline has experience in large data set analysis and inferential modelling and is committed to data sovereignty principles and ethics. She also has experience in Foucauldian analysis of healthcare and data.
Member
Peter McIntyre
peter.mcintyre@otago.ac.nz
Peter McIntyre has been a Professor in the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health of the University of Otago since 2018. From 2004 to 2017, he was Director of Australia’s National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, a Professor in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health at the University of Sydney and an infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital, Westmead, Sydney.
Most recently, he has been working closely with Student Health Services in Dunedin on a Health Research Council-funded clinical trial of delivering measles-mumps-rubella vaccine by nebulised aerosol in comparison to standard intramuscular administration, and with Dr Amber Young (Pharmacy) and Associate Professor Esther Willing (Kōhatu), the lead investigators on HRC-funded research to strengthen maternal immunisation, especially among Māori.
Member
Richelle Fogarty
Richelle.Fogarty@southerndhb.govt.nz
Richelle is currently working 0.9 position as an Associate Clinical Nurse Manager – Te Punaka employed by Southern as part of Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora. She predominately support the team in Vaccine prevention / outreach immunisation and public health nursing. Richelle brings extensive experience in nursing practice, team coordination, and patient centred service delivery. She is passionate about improving health outcomes and immunisation rates through innovation and interprofessional engagement.
Member
Seini Taufa
seini@moanaresearch.co.nz
Dr. Seini Taufa is General Manager for the Research Vaka within Moana Connect, with over sixteen years of research, evaluation, and teaching experience at the University of Auckland. Seini contributed to courses based on Addictions, Pacific Health, and Equities and Inequalities in Health at the School of Population Health, University of Auckland, and is still the Pacific Theme Lead for the Growing up in NZ Longitudinal study.
Dr. Taufa is extremely passionate about incorporating Pacific frameworks and worldviews into her work and is committed to elevating the voices of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa, New Zealand and abroad.
Member
Te Atarua Davis
Taylor.Davis@hapai.co.nz
Te Atarua came to Hāpai as an intern in 2021, after collecting 6 years of tertiary study across different health sectors under their belt and finally graduated with a BHSc in Public and Environmental Health. They spent a year working on Smokefree clinical & qualitative research and then rejoined Hāpai Te Hauora as in 2023.
They’re ecstatic to be part of Te Puna Whakamaunu, Hapai’s blossoming research team, as a conduit between whānau health aspirations and the systems intended to serve them. When they’re not in the office, they run an art account for takatāpui, Māori and disability activism.
Member
Tony Dowell
tony.dowell@otago.ac.nz
Tony Dowell is Professor of Primary Health Care and Deputy Dean at the University of Otago, Wellington, and a practicing General Practitioner at the Island Bay Medical Centre. Tony's research activities have spanned a wide range of topics relevant to primary care, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Current research themes include: mental health, communication in health care, and quality in health care.
Member
Tony Walls
tony.walls@otago.ac.nz
Tony Walls is a graduate of the University of Otago, having trained in Paediatrics at both Christchurch and Dunedin Hospitals. He trained as a Paediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at the Royal London Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. At this time he completed an MD through the University of London, focusing on adenovirus infection in children following bone marrow transplantation. He has an ongoing clinical interest in the management of infection in immunocompromised children.
Member
Tyler Gray
tyler.gray@npo.org.nz
Tyler is a Research Coordinator for Ngati Porou Oranga Centre of Excellence Te Rangawairua o Paratene Ngata.
Member
Stef Gomes-Ng
stef.gomes-ng@aut.ac.nz
Stef’s research broadly explores the interaction between environmental stimuli, behaviour, and consequences. Much of her research uses behavioural approaches to examine the mechanisms underlying decision making and multiple cue use, and to investigate how reward affects cognitive processes such as attention and memory. She is particularly interested in translational behaviour-analytic research that can be applied to understand behaviour in the "real world".
Member
Emma Brownless
Emma.Brownless@mercury.co.nz
Emma is a sociology researcher whose primary focus is understanding vaccine attitudes in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has recently completed a Master’s thesis that examined how social relationships, experiences, and emotions shape parents’ COVID-19 vaccine decisions. Her current research is a PhD thesis that focuses on the relationship between vaccine attitudes and how people engage with a broad range of misinformation and disinformation.
Member
Thomas Schober
thomas.schober@aut.ac.nz
Thomas Schober is a Senior Research Fellow at the NZ Policy Research Institute at the Auckland University of Technology. His research interests include health, family, and labour economics. He has extensive experience in working with administrative data and applying quantitative econometric methods.
Member
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Member
Catherine Gilchrist
c.gilchrist@auckland.ac.nz
Dr Catherine Gilchrist is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. Her current research interest is in child health and wellbeing, particularly within the Growing Up in New Zealand (https://www.growingup.co.nz/) longitudinal study of child health and development.
Member
Ji Yeon Park
Ji is a Research Fellow at the University of Auckland with over 10 years of experience in nursing, spanning trauma care to infection control consulting. Her research focuses on infection prevention and control, healthcare-associated infections, patient safety, health literacy, and culturally responsive care. She is part of the Triple R project team, examining risk and resilience factors for influenza.
Member
Helen Petousis-Harris
h.petousis-harris@auckland.ac.nz
Helen is an Associate Professor in the General Practice and Primary Healthcare department at the University of Auckland. Her fields of research include infectious diseases and public health.
Member
Bernadette Heaphy
Bernadette.Heaphy@plunket.org.nz
Immunisation Service Manager, Bernadette is an experienced vaccinator, educator, programme manager in the immunisation, and has been working on Plunket on their immunisation service pilot.
Member
Hannah Chisholm
h.chisholm@auckland.ac.nz
Hannah is a Research Fellow and epidemiologist in the Vaccine Datalink and Research Group at the School of Population Health and the Global Vaccine Data Network. Her fields of research include vaccine effectiveness, vaccine preventable disease epidemiology and public health.
Member
Asma Gul
Asma Gul is an early-career researcher with nearly five years of experience in Infection Prevention and Control and a doctoral candidate in the Triple-R programme at the University of Auckland. Her research examines patterns of risk, resilience, and response to acute respiratory infections among diverse Asian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Member
Chris Leung
Christopher.Leung@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Chris Leung is a whole-of-life authorised vaccinator and community pharmacist. He currently serves as the Pharmacy Engagement Lead for the Northern Region within the National Public Health Service at Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand, where he supports pharmacy-based public health initiatives and immunisation efforts across communities.