Member profiles
Professor Joseph M Boden
Joe Boden has a BA in Psychology from Boston University, and an MA and PhD in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. He previously worked in the USA, UK and Australia before coming to New Zealand in 2002. Since 2005 he has been with the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), a longitudinal study of a birth cohort born in mid-1977 and followed to the present day. In 2019 Joe became the fourth Director of the CHDS. His interests are in mental health and substance use epidemiology, and longitudinal research methods.
Professor, Director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago Christchurch
Email: joseph.boden@otago.ac.nz
Dr Andi Crawford
He tangata tiriti ahau. Nō Czech Republic, Scotland, Switzerland, Prussia, Ireland, England ōku tīpuna.
Andi Crawford is a Clinical Psychologist and Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine. Andi recently completed her post-doc which explored pathways to support children, mothers, and their families who have experienced prenatal alcohol and drug exposure. Andi has 20 years’ of experience working in child development, child and adolescent mental health, maternal mental health and addiction services. She currently works for Te Ara Manapou (Pregnancy and Parenting Service, Te Whatu Ora – Te Matau a Māui) providing support for pregnant women and parents of young children who experience addiction and mental health challenges. Currently, she is the Tangata Tiriti co-lead for the development of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Guidelines in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Honorary Research Fellow
Email: andi.crawford@auckland.ac.nz
Dr Rose Crossin
Rose is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Population Health, at the University of Otago Christchurch campus. Rose’s research focusses on quantifying and preventing drug and alcohol harm from a public health perspective. She also has an interest in how drug and alcohol policy impact harm at a population level. She is the lead investigator on the HRC funded “Drug Harms Ranking Study for Aotearoa New Zealand”.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Population Health, University of Otago (Christchurch)
Email: rose.crossin@otago.ac.nz
Dr Victoria Egli
Victoria is mixed-methods health researcher and social scientist working in the field of child health, community and public health nutrition. She is one of New Zealand’s leading experts in unhealthy commodities marketing to children. She pioneered the use of Google Street View to monitor outdoor food environments. Ensuring that knowledge generated through research reaches those who can benefit from it is consistently evidenced in her work. Values that sit at the heart of her work include meaningful relationships, partnership, equity and tino rangatiratanga.
Associate Professor, School of Health, The University of Waikato
Email: victoria.egli@waikato.ac.nz
Associate Professor James Foulds
James Foulds is a Christchurch-based forensic psychiatrist whose research interests include using longitudinal data to study alcohol and methamphetamine-relating offending.
Associate Professor, University of Otago
Email: James.foulds@otago.ac.nz
Dr Sarah Herbert
Sarah is a Māori health leader, passionate about embedding Te Tiriti O Waitangi and upholding Māori health rights. With a background in critical health psychology her expertise lies in Hauora Māori with interests in Māori alcohol use, Māori population health, Māori equity, system responsiveness to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and Māori health research.
Sarah completed her PhD in 2017 which explored the social context of Māori alcohol use. Since then, she has been involved in alcohol research exploring: the health impacts of key modelled alcohol interventions among Māori and non-Māori in Aotearoa; how alcohol and alcohol harms are framed in New Zealand policy, strategy and action plans as well as how these documents align with the WHO SAFER framework. Sarah is also providing expert advice to an independent review of the New Zealand alcohol levy.
Having had previous experience as a Māori health lecturer and researcher at Auckland University of Technology, and more recently within Te Kupenga Hauora Māori (Māori Health Department) at the University of Auckland Sarah brings broad knowledge of the New Zealand health system and the determinants of health.
Project Manager; Māori equity – Te Whatu Ora
Email: sarah.herbert09@gmail.com
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Dr Veronica Hopner
Veronica Hopner is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Massey University in Auckland. She works in the area of Unfree Work which includes modern slavery, human trafficking, debt bondage or peonage, and all forms of exploited or coerced labour. This work examines the wider context of Unfree Work and the addiction to unsustainable production and consumption. Adjacent to this work are research interests in the physical and psychological harm of substance abuse (forced and otherwise), which are often central to experiences of Unfree Work. Further research interests include the impacts of FASD, Foster Care and Correctional settings. Veronica teaches a postgraduate course in Occupational Health PsychologySarah is a Māori health leader, passionate about embedding Te Tiriti O Waitangi and upholding Māori health rights. With a background in critical health psychology her expertise lies in Hauora Māori with interests in Māori alcohol use, Māori population health, Māori equity, system responsiveness to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and Māori health research.
Senior Lecturer, Massey University
Email: v.hopner@massey.ac.nz
Associate Professor Taisia Huckle
Taisia is an Associate Professor and the quantitative team leader at SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massey University. She currently has a Sir Charles Hercus fellowship awarded by the Health Research Council. Taisia’s research has a major focus on the implementation of alcohol policy and its effects on harms and inequities. She participates in international collaborative projects on alcohol policy, is a co-author on the book Alcohol No Ordinary Commodity and has contributed to World Health Organisation books and events.
Associate Professor, Massey University
Email: t.huckle@massey.ac.nz
Professor Janet Hoek
Janet Hoek is a professor of public health at the University of Otago, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. She co-directs ASPIRE Aotearoa, a University of Otago Research Centre, and a Health Research Council programme examining measures to realise the Smokefree 2025 goal. Her earlier work explored on-pack warnings and plain packaging, and the uptake and use of e-cigarettes. Hoek’s current work explores endgame measures including denicotinisation, reducing tobacco availability, and the smokefree generation policy. She is a Senior Editor for Tobacco Control and has received awards for her research, including the Universities New Zealand 2022 Critic and Conscience of Society Award.
Project Manager; Māori equity – Te Whatu Ora
Email: hanet.hoek@otago.ac.nz
Associate Professor Fiona Hutton
Fiona Hutton is an Associate Professor (Reader) at the Institute of Criminology, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University, Wellington, where she is also the Director of the Institute of Criminology. She has taught and researched in the areas of Criminology, specifically criminological theory, youth crime and cultures, drug policy, harm reduction, alcohol and other drugs, for the past twenty-five years. She has published extensively in New Zealand and international journals on her research, and is the author of ‘Risky Pleasures? Club Cultures and Feminine Identities’ (Ashgate, 2006), and the edited collection ‘Cultures of Intoxication: Key Issues and Debates’ (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2020). In 2020 she completed a report on drug checking at New Zealand festivals for the Ministry of Health and is a keen advocate for evidence-based drug law reform and harm reduction. Current research projects include: patients’ experiences of therapeutic use of cannabis; documenting the experiences of those with a drug-related conviction; critically exploring the concept of intoxication, and how the intoxication practices of diverse groups are experienced and responded to.
Associate Professor, Institute of Criminology (Director), Victoria University, Wellington
Email: fiona.hutton@vuw.ac.nz
Professor Bodo Lang
Bodo’s career draws on his experience from both the commercial and academic sectors. His commercial career spans advertising (Germany), management consulting (New Zealand) and market research (Singapore). The other half of Bodo’s career has been in academia including several senior management roles. He is currently an Associate Professor in marketing, Lead of the Disciplinary Area “Strategic Marketing and Market Innovation”, and Assistant Dean – External Engagement in the Business School at the University of Auckland.
A function of Bodo’s applied industry background, his research focuses on the intersection of academic rigour and practical relevance. Bodo’s research consists of two broad streams. Firstly, he publishes in marketing journals on contemporary topics such as marketing communication and services marketing, often with a strong consumer focus. His second stream of research is cross-disciplinary in nature, working in partnership with colleagues from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS). This research sits at the interface of public health and marketing and focuses on using marketing techniques for social marketing purposes (“using marketing for public good”), particularly within the contexts of alcohol, sugary beverages, and vaping.
Professor of Marketing, School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing
Massey Business School, Massey University Albany
Email: b.lang@massey.ac.nz
Phone: +64 (0) 9 923 7162
Associate Professor Giles Newton-Howes
Giles is a psychiatrist with a sub-speciality in addictions medicine. Giles works for the university of Otago and in this role, he does addictions research generally with a clinical focus.
Associate Professor, University of Otago
Email: giles.newton-howes@otago.ac.nz
Associate Professor Chrissy Severinsen
Dr Chrissy Severinsen is an Associate Professor at Massey University’s School of Health Sciences in Aotearoa New Zealand. She co-leads the postgraduate public health and undergraduate mental health and addiction programmes. Her research demonstrates diverse public health kaupapa while maintaining a critical public health lens. Chrissy actively engages in interdisciplinary projects that integrate public health, health promotion with mātauranga Māori, mental health and addiction, health services, and education. Driven by a desire to bridge the gap between academia and communities, she promotes the integration of policy and practice, offering invaluable guidance for public health action. Her projects embrace a Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led approach, championing equity, effective service provision, information sharing, collective action, and resource optimisation through rigorous evaluation. Overall, her research profile showcases a commitment to diversity, public health, and community engagement.
Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences, Massey University
Email: c.a.severinsen@massey.ac.nz
Associate Professor Andy Towers
Andy is an Associate Professor in Health Sciences and the Co-Director of the Mental Health and Addiction Practitioner Training Programme at Massey University. He teaches public health approaches to alcohol and other drug use issues. His research explores the epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use and their harms, with a particular focus on drug use in those aged 50+. He has worked on alcohol use and healthy ageing projects with international, national and community agencies with a focus on applying research findings to improve health policy and health services. He is currently on the Board of Directors for Te Pou (the mental health, disability and addiction workforce development agency) and Speed Freaks Addiction Charity.
Associate Professor in Health Sciences; College of Health; Massey University
Email: a.j.towers@massey.ac.nz
Jai Whelan
Jai Whelan (Ngāi Te Rangi) is currently a research student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago. His main project is a broad investigation of the people of Aotearoa who use MDMA, including use behaviour, harm reduction, experiences and attitudes. Jai is also generally interested in psychopharmacology, drug policy, and drug consumption as cultural practice.
PhD Student; University of Otago
Email: jai.whelan@postgrad.otago.ac.nz