Rate My Professor Nisa Widyastuti

Dr. Nisa Widyastuti is a Research Fellow at the Biostatistics Centre in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Otago. She holds qualifications including DDS, MSc, MIDP, PGDipResMethDes, and a PhD from the University of Otago awarded in 2023 for her thesis titled 'Trends in, and risk factors of overweight and obesity in Indonesian populations: A longitudinal study,' supervised by Professor Robin Turner and others. As an early-career researcher, she has extensive experience working with big data, longitudinal data analysis, clinical trial studies, statistical modelling, and problem-solving, with a strong attention to detail and ability to perform under pressure. Her research interests focus on public health, specializing in nutrition, international development, and global health, particularly employing complex statistical methods for longitudinal data and clinical trials.

Widyastuti's career at the University of Otago includes her doctoral research conducted within the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine and the Biostatistics Centre. She contributes to collaborative projects in health sciences, providing expertise in research design and statistical analysis. Key publications include 'BMI-z score trajectories of Indonesian children and adolescents between 1993 and 2014 and associated risk factors' (Public Health Nutrition, 2025, with Turner, Harcombe, and McLean); 'Planning for driving cessation: A cross-sectional study of community dwelling older drivers (NZPATHS)' (Journal of Transport & Health, 2025, with McLean, Connor, and Samaranayaka); and 'Frequency of manual therapy for people with knee osteoarthritis: The Opti-OK trial' (Musculoskeletal Science & Practice, 2024, conference abstract, with Chapple et al.). She has also presented seminars such as 'How to collaborate with a biostatistician from the Biostatistics Centre' (Department of Medicine Seminar, 2025, with Gray and Iosua) and contributed to conference presentations on physiotherapy trials. Her work examines trends in obesity and BMI in Indonesian populations, sodium benchmarks, and health interventions, demonstrating impact in public health nutrition and biostatistics.