Rate My Professor Ricci Harris

Professor Ricci Harris (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa) is a Research Professor, public health physician, and Kaupapa Māori epidemiologist at Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare in the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington. She holds the qualifications of MB ChB, MPH, and FAFPHM. Throughout her career at the University of Otago, previously as a Junior Research Fellow and Associate Professor before promotion to Professor, she has dedicated her work to advancing Māori health equity. Her research upholds Māori rights to health and health equity as ensured by Te Tiriti o Waitangi and in line with international Indigenous rights. Professor Harris applies Kaupapa Māori research theory to develop decolonial approaches to epidemiology that center Māori and are contextualized within systems of ongoing racism and colonialism.

Her primary research specializations encompass the classification of ethnicity, ethnic disparities in health status and receipt of health services, and the impact of racism on Māori health and inequities. Key publications include 'The undercounting of Indigenous Māori imprisoned by the New Zealand carceral state: a national record study' (Health & Justice, 2025), 'Racism and health among Aotearoa New Zealand young people aged 15–24 years: Analysis of multiple national surveys' (Journal of Adolescent Health, 2024), 'Māori medical student and physician exposure to racism, discrimination, harassment, and bullying' (JAMA Network Open, 2024), 'Ethnicity is an evidence-based marker of need (and targeting services is good medical practice)' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2024), 'The impact of racism on subsequent healthcare use and experiences for adult New Zealanders: a prospective cohort study' (BMC Public Health, 2024), 'Racism and health service utilisation: A systematic review and meta-analysis' (PLOS One, 2017), and 'Self-Reported Experience of Racial Discrimination and Health Care Utilisation in New Zealand' (American Journal of Public Health, 2012). She has led analyses of national surveys, developed tools for studying bias in medical decision-making, and co-authored protocols for prospective cohort studies on racism's health effects. In September 2024, she delivered a verbal presentation on the application of Kaupapa Māori epidemiology methods at the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting in Waitangi. Professor Harris's contributions have shaped academic discourse and policy on Indigenous health equity and anti-racism in Aotearoa New Zealand's health sector.