Rate My Professor Brigit Mirfin-Veitch

Associate Professor Brigit Mirfin-Veitch serves as a Research Associate Professor in the Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies at the University of Otago, Christchurch. A sociologist by training, she earned her BA (Hons) and PhD from the University of Otago, with the latter awarded in 2005 for her doctoral thesis "Dislocation/Deinstitutionalisation in the Lives of Families of People with an Intellectual Disability." She also holds a degree in sociology and history from the University of Canterbury, completed in 1991. Brigit began her professional career at the Donald Beasley Institute in 1994 as a research assistant and has progressed to the role of Director (Kaiuruki Matua), where she leads and mentors emerging disabled and disability researchers. Additionally, she holds an Adjunct Associate Professor position in the School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, since 2018.

Her research portfolio centers on the experiences of people with intellectual and learning disabilities, with particular emphasis on health and wellbeing, access to justice, parenting rights, violence and abuse prevention, and the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Proficient in qualitative research methodologies, she conducts transformative evaluation projects and contributes to education and advisory roles within the disability sector. Brigit supervises several PhD students pursuing disability-related doctoral research. Notable publications include: Bowden et al. (2025), "Mortality risk of youth with neurodevelopmental conditions: An Aotearoa New Zealand nationwide birth cohort study," JAMA Pediatrics; McKenzie et al. (2024), "My plan for a good life, right to the end: An accessible approach to advance care planning," Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability; Watene, Mirfin-Veitch & Asaka (2023), "Disabled person-led monitoring of the UNCRPD in Aotearoa New Zealand," in Research handbook on disability policy; and Frawley & Mirfin-Veitch (2023), "Sexuality and relationships: Informing rights-based policy and practice," in the same handbook. Through her evidence-based research, she drives social change and advocates for the rights of disabled individuals.