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College of Health

Te Kura Hauora Tangata

The College of Health, Te Kura Hauora Tangata, connects people across collaborative units with outstanding expertise and programmes in nursing, human nutrition and dietetics, physiology, public health, sport and exercise, social work, environmental and occupational health, and disability and rehabilitation.

We partner with New Zealand and international stakeholders to lead the improvement of health and wellbeing, and promote equity and social justice.

Study programmes

The College of Health offers an exciting, innovative environment for your studies. With a Massey qualification in health, you'll be in demand and enjoy a satisfying career improving people’s lives. Demand for healthcare workers is rising across the world and New Zealand isn’t producing enough graduates – 42% of our health workforce was trained overseas. Join our students and get ready to address and help solve the health issues of the 21st century.

Find study programmes from across the University focused on health.

Study health

Research expertise

College of Health staff focus on a wide array of interrelated health research themes. At the highly individual biomolecular level, we investigate how specific foods or nutrients improve the way energy is used in every cell of our body. At the other extreme, we are looking at the factors that affect community health and how social structures support our health.

Learn more about the University’s research expertise in health.

Health research

Staff

Pro Vice-Chancellor

Professor Jane Mills

Jane is considered one of Australia’s foremost primary health care academics with extensive experience leading and managing teams in both government and tertiary sectors. Her research portfolio focuses on rural and public health, health workforce, and health system strengthening.

Head of School of Health Sciences

Associate Professor Rachel Page

Rachel has over 25 years of experience in leadership, learning and teaching and research. 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.

Head of School of Nursing

Professor Annette Huntington

In 2012, Annette was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Queens’ Honours for services to nursing research. She is New Zealand Director of both the Nurses and Midwives e-Cohort Study, and the Graduate Nurses Study, in collaboration with Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Head of School of Social Work

Associate Professor Kieran O'Donoghue

In 2015, Kieran was awarded the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers Quality and Innovation Trophy for Excellence in Research and Certificate for Research Excellence. He has published nationally and internationally in the areas of social work theory and practice, social work supervision and in relation to the social work profession.

Head of School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition

Associate Professor Andrew Foskett

As well as being the Major Leader for the Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Sports Science) on the Albany campus, Andrew is a keen practitioner and participated in the Beijing Olympics (2008) and three age-group FIFA World Cups (2009, 2011 and 2013) in his role as an applied sports scientist.

Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor

Associate Deans

Business Services Manager

Directors of University research centres

See all staff

Careers at Massey

Awards and recognition

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

Associate Professor Kieran O’Donoghue was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for research by Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW). As well as receiving this Quality and Innovation Award, he shared the overall ANZASW trophy.

Associate Professor Kieran O’Donoghue - 2015
ANZASW Quality and Innovation Awards

The prestigious Dietitians NZ Award of Excellence has been awarded to Dr Carol Wham from Massey University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Dietetics.

Dr Carol Wham - 2017
Dietitians NZ Award of Excellence

Professor Mark Henrickson is a staunch advocate for the rights of sexual and gender minorities. He was the first New Zealand social worker from New Zealand to deliver the prestigious Eileen Younghusband Memorial Lecture at the 2016 World Social Work Conference in Korea.

Professor Mark Henrickson - 2016
Eileen Younghusband Memorial Lecture

Dr Rosie Gibson from Massey’s Sleep/Wake Research Centre has been awarded nearly one-quarter of a million dollars by the Health Research Council of New Zealand to investigate sleep and its relationship to the health and wellbeing of older New Zealanders, highlighting both the personal, sociological, and economical impact of sleep problems.

Dr Rosemary Gibson - 2018
Emerging Researcher First Grant for sleep research

Dr Octavia Calder-Dawe from Massey University’s SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre, has been awarded nearly $250,000 from the Health Research Council of New Zealand to investigate what wellbeing means to New Zealand youth.

Dr Octavia Calder-Dawe - 2018
HRC funding for New Zealand youth wellbeing research

Professor Sally Casswell, Co-Director of the SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre in Auckland, has been awarded a project grant of $1,188,701 over 36 months by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. Her project is entitled Assessing and comparing national policy to reduce harmful use of alcohol.

Professor Sally Casswell - 2017
HRC funding for alcohol control research

Professor Jeroen Douwes, Director of Wellington’s Centre for Public Health Research, has been awarded nearly $5 million by the Health Research Council of New Zealand to investigate work-related disease.

Professor Jeroen Douwes - 2017
HRC funding for work related disease research

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

Associate Professor David Rowlands from the School of Sport and Exercise was honoured as the winner of the 2017 Gatorade Sport Science Institute (GSSI) - American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Sport Nutrition Award for his study entitled, Multiple-Transportable Carbohydrate Effect on Long-Distance Triathlon Performance.

Associate Professor David Rowlands - 2017
Sport Nutrition Award

    Strategic vision

    Vision

    In line with the philosophy of Hauora, our strategic approach to learning, teaching and research is to view optimal health and wellbeing as the outcome of multiple factors encompassing individual differences, diversity, social determinants and environmental interactions.

    It is important to us to be recognised nationally and internationally for the quality and integrity of our research, the capability of our graduates and our service to others. We develop and promulgate solutions for large and complex problems that affect the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and whänau with the aim of building a brighter world.


    Mission

    The College of Health makes a difference in the areas of:

    • accessible health education
    • applied social research
    • health system strengthening including workforce development
    • public health and health policy
    • applied inter-disciplinary practice
    • sleep, sport and exercise, and nutrition
    • understand the environmental, biological and social mechanisms of health and disease.

    Goals

    1. Be a Treaty of Waitangi led College of Health – Te Kura Hauora Tangata.
    2. Value, recognise and reward professional and academic staff, and promote staff development and wellbeing.
    3. Be the preferred partner for education and research in our areas of expertise.
    4. Align and optimise organisational processes to achieve best practice.
    5. Generate new revenue and increase efficiency so we can invest in our strengths.

    Donate to the College of Health

    We welcome your support in raising money to enable excellence in scholarship, teaching and research in the College of Health.

    Donate now

    Departments

    The College of Health is a collaboration of four interconnected schools. Find out more about their locations, research expertise and staff.

    School of Health Sciences

    School of Nursing

    School of Social Work

    School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition

    Accreditation and rankings

    Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (UK)

    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.

    New Zealand Performance-Based Research Fund Rankings

    According to the NZ PBRF Rankings our research standing among New Zealand universities includes:

    • first in Nursing
    • second in Health Studies
    • third in Sport and Exercise Science.

    New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board

    Our professional programmes are accredited by the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board. Students who complete the Bachelor of Social Work or Master of Applied Social Work can immediately apply for provisional registration as a registered social worker.

    Nursing Council of New Zealand

    Our nursing programmes are nationally and internationally recognised and approved by the Nursing Council of New Zealand. Students who have completed Massey’s Bachelor of Nursing, can apply for registration as a registered nurse with the Nursing Council of New Zealand.  

    Shanghai Ranking - public health

    Massey University is ranked in the top 200 universities in the world 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.

      Research centres

      Find out more about our University research centres, their staff and research.

      Centre for Public Health Research

      The Centre for Public Health Research covers all aspects of public health, including non-communicable diseases (respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes), occupational health, environmental health, socio-economic determinants of health, Māori health and Pacific health research.

      Find out more

      Research Centre for Māori Health and Development | Te Pūmanawa Hauora

      The Research Centre for Māori Health and Development focuses on public health research from a Māori development perspective.

      Find out more

      SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre

      The SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre is funded through external research grants and contracts to undertake public-good research of relevance to the health and social sectors. The centre consists of two multidisciplinary research groups working in a Treaty of Waitangi partnership model to produce excellent research with the aim of improving health and wellbeing in Aotearoa, New Zealand and globally.

      Find out more

      Sleep/Wake Research Centre

      The Sleep/Wake Research Centre is New Zealand’s first laboratory dedicated to research and education in circadian physiology, sleep science, and their applications. We are motivated to find science-based solutions to the challenges created by the restricted sleep and circadian disruption that are endemic in our 24/7 society.

      Find out more

      Contact us

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      Palmerston North

      Wellington

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      Massey Contact Centre Mon - Fri 8:30am to 5:00pm 0800 MASSEY (+64 6 350 5701) TXT 5222 contact@massey.ac.nz Web chat Staff Alumni News Māori @ Massey