Our team

He has been involved with CHDS since 2015 and became co-director in 2023. His research focus lies at the interface of mental health, substance use, and criminal offending. He also convenes postgraduate teaching in forensic mental health at the University of Otago, and works clinically as a forensic psychiatrist.

She joined CHDS in 2024 as a co-director. Toni concurrently holds a role as Research & Operations Manager at the NZ Brain Research Institute (NZBRI) in the Department of Medicine. Her research interests include neurodegenerative disorders (such as Parkinson’s disease) and Māori health equity, and she brings experience in epidemiology and longitudinal cohorts. 

Professor Joseph “Joe” Boden is a Principal Scientist with the CHDS, where he has worked since the early 2000s and served as Director from 2019 to 2023. Originally trained as an experimental social psychologist, he earned his PhD from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1995. Before joining CHDS, he held academic posts at the University of Plymouth (UK) and the University of Southern Queensland (Australia).
Joe’s research focuses on the intersections of substance use, mental health, and maladaptive behaviour, and he has published widely on these topics using the CHDS’s unique longitudinal dataset. Beyond academia, he contributes his expertise to governmental and policy advisory groups, including the New Zealand Ministries of Health, Justice, and Social Development, helping translate research evidence into policy and practice.

Jess works across the Departments of Population Health and Psychological Medicine. She trained in health psychology and worked in Australia for several years before returning to NZ. Her research interests include psychiatric epidemiology, later life outcomes associated with child and adolescent mental and physical health, intervention targets to reduce premature mortality, and non-communicable disease epidemiology and global health.

Michaela of Ngāti Pūkenga, completed her PhD in 2020 which focused on the genetic and environmental contributions to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders. Since completing her PhD, she has been researching disparities in mental health, eating disorders, and substance use among diverse populations, including Māori and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Nathan completed his PhD on the CHDS in 2023. His doctoral work used network analysis to investigate mental health problems as complex systems. Since graduating, he has worked in Māori/Indigenous health research, primarily looking at physical health inequities for Māori living with psychosis. He is passionate about health equity and informing health improvement through data.