Speakers

Jo Baxter

Jo Baxter (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a public health medicine physician and academic. She has held key positions in the University of Otago including Associate Dean (Māori), director of Kōhatu, Centre for Hauora Māori, and co-director of the Māori Health Workforce Development Unit. Jo was appointed Dean of the Dunedin School of Medicine in 2022, and was the first Māori woman in the role.

Jo's research interests include Māori health workforce development, Māori mental health, Māori child and youth health, hazardous drinking among tertiary students and health inequalities.

Donna Cormack

Donna is an Associate Professor at Te Kupenga Hauora Māori at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has a background in work on the collection and classification of ethnicity data in New Zealand, particularly as it relates to measuring and monitoring inequities, the impacts of racism on Indigenous health, and Māori data sovereignty. Her research and teaching interests also include critical and decolonial approaches to health research.

Cheryl Davies

Cheryl Davies (Ngāti Raukawa/Ngāti WehiWehi/Ngāti Mutunga o Te Wharekauri) is the Manager of Tu Kōtahi Māori Asthma and Research Trust and is a Senior Kaupapa Māori researcher. For over two decades, Cheryl has worked in transformative research partnering with Māori communities. Cheryl contributed to the development of the Kaupapa Māori framework ‘Whānau Tuatahi’ which facilitates community–researcher partnerships to give voice to whānau wellbeing aspirations.

Belinda Tuari-Toma

Belinda Tuari-Toma (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Whenua Moemoeā) is a kāiarahi-emerging researcher, kaitiaki of rongoā Māori, grounding her practice in traditional holistic modalities that resonate deeply with te ao Māori indigenous beliefs in the inherent interconnectedness of all living things. She applies these approaches across all elements of Tu Kōtahi Asthma and Research Trust and hapū Kōkiri Marae Keriana Olsen Trust's mahi, demonstrating a lifelong dedication to representing tamariki, whānau, hapū, and social justice interests, while advocating for the well-being of our communities and the natural world.