Rate My Professor Talai Mapusua

Talai Mapusua serves as Lecturer in Pacific Health and Acting Co-Deputy Director of Va’a o Tautai – the Centre for Pacific Health within the University of Otago’s Division of Health Sciences. A proud Samoan from Samoa and an alumna of the university, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education, a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health, and a Master of Indigenous Studies in Education. Having contributed to the institution for over 13 years, she convenes PACH201: Pacific Health – New Zealand and the Pacific and PACH301: Pacific Health – Advanced Applied Knowledge. As Academic Lead for the Pacific and Global Health major under the Bachelor of Health Sciences degree, she leads the development and delivery of Pacific Health curriculum, integrating traditional stories and perspectives to build cultural understanding and sensitivity for working with Pacific patients and communities. Her teaching approach, rooted in Pacific values from her Samoan upbringing, creates empowering, practical, and reflective learning environments that support the mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing of students, particularly Pacific learners.

Mapusua’s research interests focus on Pacific peoples’ health, particularly Pacific women’s health outcomes. She is a member of the research team for the Brain Research New Zealand-funded project exploring the needs of Pacific families affected by age-related cognitive impairment, alongside colleagues including Dr Vanda Symon, Professor Pauline Norris, and Associate Professor Rosalina Richards. Key publications include co-authorship on “Ko au tēnei: This is me. Exploring the lived experience of underrepresented groups with pharmacy services to inform the development of pharmacy case-based learning” (Currents in Pharmacy Teaching & Learning, 2024); “Is parent education a factor in identifying autism/takiwātanga in an ethnic cohort of Pacific children in Aotearoa, New Zealand? A national cross-sectional study using linked administrative data” (Autism, 2024); and “'Fofola le fala': Inviting everyone on to the mat: Embedding Pacific pedagogies and culture into the Pacific & Global Health major at the University of Otago” (TERNZ Conference Proceedings, 2022). For her innovative integration of Pacific pedagogies, she received the University of Otago Award for Excellence in Teaching with endorsement for supporting Pacific Learners in 2023 and an Ako Pacific Professional Development Scholarship. Beyond academia, she connects Samoan youth in Dunedin to their culture through the ‘Penina o le Moana’ Siva Samoa Programme for young girls and the ‘So’oula o Samoa’ cultural group offering workshops on Samoan customs and traditions.