Rate My Professor Johanna Reidy

Dr Johanna Reidy serves as a Lecturer in Health Systems in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago's Wellington campus, part of the Faculty of Medicine. Her academic background includes a PhD, MA with Distinction in Translation, LLB, BA with Honours in French and German, Postgraduate Diploma in Arts in English Language, and Postgraduate Certificate in Public Health endorsed in health systems. Trained as a lawyer, she has worked in various roles within District Health Boards involving service contracting, planning, evaluation, and programme management. She continues to freelance in the health sector and has experience with the World Health Organization and other institutions in the New Zealand health system. Public health enables her to integrate interests in language, cultures, law, and governance.

Johanna Reidy's research interests center on governance at the systems interface between primary care and public health, research methodologies, evidence and evaluation for primary health care innovations, and prioritisation of health systems and resources. She is the principal investigator for the pilot project 'Sameness as fairness? Exploring the impacts of school uniforms on health and equity in Aotearoa New Zealand,' funded by a University of Otago Research Grant in 2023. Her teaching portfolio includes convening PUBH738 Global Health Law and Ethics, PUBH742 Global Health and International Health Systems, delivering health systems content to fourth-year medical students, and leading an Introduction to the New Zealand Health System in the department's annual summer school. Key publications include 'The cost of belonging: School uniform affordability in Aotearoa New Zealand' (Reidy, Pettie, & Telfar Barnard, 2026, Kōtuitui), 'Equity, power and resources in primary health care reform: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand' (Reidy et al., 2025, International Journal for Equity in Health), 'Piecing together piecemeal regulation: Stakeholder insights into joint statutory regulation to reduce children's unhealthy commodity marketing exposure in Aotearoa New Zealand' (Worters et al., 2026, Health Promotion Journal of Australia), and 'The ownership elephant is becoming a mammoth: A policy focus on ownership is needed to transform Aotearoa New Zealand's health system' (Reidy et al., 2023, New Zealand Medical Journal).