Dr Keri Lawson-Te Aho

Dr Keri Lawson-Te Aho is a lecturer and researcher in Māori Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington. She has a PhD in Science and Psychology and special interests in indigenous rights, self-determination and population based health and mental health. Keri is a former Fulbright Scholar and was a Research Fellow with the East West Center in Hawai’i which included research and policy placements with the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore Maryland; the Indian Health Services in Rockville, Maryland, the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley and the Center for American Indian Research at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Keri has a background of 30 years in Hauora Māori and has been at the forefront of major developments in Hauora Māori from the mid 1980’s.  Alongside Professor John Broughton, she was a recipient of the inaugural Dr John McLeod Memorial Scholarship for outstanding contributions to Māori public health. She is a member of the International Taskforce of Indigenous Psychologists; Society of American Indian Psychologists and International Human Dignity network, a group of social justice activists dedicated to the prevention of human suffering and the promotion of global peace.