Rate My Professor Takiwai Russell-Camp

Takiwai Russell-Camp serves as Associate Dean Māori for the Faculty of Medicine – Dunedin at the University of Otago. She is also Kairuruku – Research Fellow and Kaiwhakatere in the Department of Medicine (Dunedin). A 29-year-old Dunedin local of Kai Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Rapuwai, and Kuki Airani whakapapa, she was raised on her papakaika at Ōtākoukou, Puketeraki, and Moeraki. As the third generation in her whānau to engage in kaupapa Māori research and strategic management, Russell-Camp discovered her passion for research and transformational change after initially aspiring to performing arts. Her career began with commercial photography following secondary challenges, but a research assistant role on a sleep-related kaupapa shifted her trajectory into sustained research involvement, including teaching, cultural advisory, and governance positions. Appointed to her current role at the encouragement of medical students, she emphasizes a student-facing approach to support tauira Māori, providing manaaki, facilitating conference attendance, and creating a home-away-from-home environment where students and staff can flourish as change makers.

Russell-Camp is an emerging Māori researcher in the Bedtime Electronic Devices (BED) research group, examining how electronic media and screen use before and in bed impacts sleep quality, mental health, and subsequent dietary intake in young adolescents, identifying insufficient high-quality sleep as a risk factor for childhood obesity. She has co-authored key publications such as 'From dusk to dawn: examining how adolescents engage with digital media using wrist-worn devices' (2025, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity), '24-h Movement Patterns: Sleep, Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity in Long-Term Conditions' (2025, Australasian Journal on Ageing), and 'Screens, Teens, and Sleep: Is the Impact of Nighttime Screen Use on Sleep Driven by Screen Brightness?' (2026, Journal of Sleep Research). In October 2025, she delivered a Department of Medicine seminar on 'Transitions and actions to strengthen Māori researcher pathways.' Her work contributes to Health Sciences Māori health research initiatives.