Rate My Professor Gabrielle McDonald

Dr Gabrielle McDonald serves as Senior Research Fellow at Kōhatu – Centre for Hauora Māori within the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences. As a public health physician, she holds the qualifications MB ChB, DCH, PGDipOMG, MPH (distinction), and PhD (2024, University of Otago). Her doctoral research, detailed in the thesis "A different kind of evidence: A public health intervention study implemented in a legal setting," investigates public health interventions within legal frameworks. McDonald's academic interests encompass child and adolescent health, mortality review processes, and the systems and structures that foster inequitable health outcomes. She actively contributes to projects such as increasing the preventive function of coroners' recommendations and the immunisation effort "Protecting hapū māmā and pēpi from vaccine-preventable diseases."

McDonald has made substantial contributions to child and youth epidemiology through co-authorship of key New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service (NZCYES) reports, including "The Determinants of Health for Children and Young People in Counties Manukau" (2009), "The Health of Children and Young People with Chronic Conditions and Disabilities in New Zealand" (2010), "The Health of Pacific Children and Young People with Chronic Conditions and Disabilities in New Zealand" (2011), and "Te Ohonga Ake: The Health of Māori Children and Young People with Chronic Conditions and Disabilities in New Zealand" (2012). Her peer-reviewed publications feature "Validity of Police-Reported Information on Injury Severity for Those Hospitalized from Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes" (2009), "Burden and distribution of mortality due to sepsis and severe infection in children and adolescents in Aotearoa/New Zealand" (2024), "Representation of Asian ethnic sub-groups in Aotearoa's regulated health workforce pre-registration students" (2024), "Prioritising culturally appropriate interventions to increase antenatal immunisation in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Delphi study" (2025), and "Are online maps and booking systems for antenatal vaccination fit for purpose? A qualitative study" (2025). Previously, as Clinical Leader of the NZ Mortality Review Data Group in the Department of Women's and Children's Health at the University of Otago, she supported perinatal and maternal mortality reviews. She earned distinction in her Master of Public Health.