Rate My Professor Jesse Kokaua

Research Associate Professor Jesse Kokaua serves in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago, where he is a key member of the Va'a o Tautai - Centre for Pacific Health. A Cook Islander residing in Dunedin since 1995, Kokaua holds a BSc, MSc, and PhD from the University of Otago. His 2015 PhD in public health, supervised by Research Professor Elisabeth Wells, Dr. Patrick Graham, and the late Professor Richie Poulton, focused on applying hierarchical Bayes models to estimate small area prevalence of mental disorders, particularly analyzing mental health disorders and service utilization among Cook Islanders in New Zealand.

Throughout his career, Kokaua has contributed significantly to public health research and statistics. He worked at the Ministry of Health on the Te Rau Hinengaro: New Zealand Mental Health Survey, enhancing data collection and analysis in mental health. As a Research Fellow in the Pacific Islands Research and Student Support Unit (PIRSSU), he has engaged in longitudinal studies including the Dunedin Study and the Graduate Longitudinal Study. His current roles involve statistical analyses for Health Sciences First Year students, evaluation for Pasifika Futures - the Pacific Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, and collaboration with the Big Data team for A Better Start National Science Challenge. Kokaua employs mixed model statistical approaches and talanoa-based methods to explore patterns and associations in data.

Kokaua's research specializations encompass Pacific health, the health benefits of education for Pacific families' children, and the immigrant paradox. He was awarded the Health Research Council Pacific Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2016 to investigate health outcomes related to education among Pasifika peoples. Notable publications include "A snapshot of families engaged with Whānau Ora services in Aotearoa New Zealand" (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2026, with L. Fitzpatrick et al.), "Life course trajectories for young Pasifika in Aotearoa" (JMIR Research Protocols, 2025, with E.S. Tautolo et al.), and "Characterisation of plasma phosphorylated Tau181 in a middle-aged birth cohort" (Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2025, with A. Barrett-Young et al.). His work has co-supervised student projects on mental health and preventable illnesses in Pacific children, influencing Pacific health research and policy.