Matire Louise Ngarongoa Harwood is a New Zealand clinical researcher and trainee general practitioner. She is an associate professor at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Harwood was the 2017 New Zealand L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Fellow. Her expertise is in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

health, focussed on reducing health inequity by improving indigenous health and well-being.

Early life and education

Harwood is from Ngāpuhi with whakapapa links to Ngāti Rangi, Te Mahurehure and Ngāti Hine. During her childhood, Harwood moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

with her family, where she and her siblings experienced racism due to being Māori. Harwood attended high school in rural Victoria,

, where she studied maths (statistics and calculus), chemistry, physics and English, and was one of the four first female physics students at her school, despite discouragement from the science department and male students. She credits the encouragement of her female science teacher for the success of the female students. Harwood moved back to New Zealand to study medicine at the

, graduating with an MBChB in 1994. No one in her family had previously attended university. She credits the influence of her grandfather, Ngature Matenga Werekake, who inspired her to be a doctor when she was seven years old. Harwood received a PhD from the University of Otago in 2012, supervised by Kathryn McPherson,

Papaarangi Reid Papaarangi Mary-Jane Reid (born 1954) is a New Zealand public health academic and, , is a full professor at the University of Auckland. Academic career After medical degrees at the University of Auckland, Reid joined, rising to full professor. ...

, William Taylor, Harry McNaughton and Bridget Robson. Her doctoral research on patient-driven rehabilitation following a stroke developed an intervention designed especially for

and Pasifika. The success of this intervention led to changes in treatment guidelines for stroke recovery.

Personal life

Harwood lives in Auckland with her partner Haunui and two young children.

Career

Harwood is an associate professor in Māori health at the

, where she is the co-director of Tōmaiora, the Māori health research group at Te Kupenga Hauora Māori. Her research is focussed on applying Kaupapa Māori (Māori principles) to clinical research. Harwood supervises graduate students at the University of Auckland, as well as training senior medical students in Māori health. She acts as editor of the ''Māori Health Review'', a publication featuring the latest updates in Māori health research. Her research has been published in scientific journals such as ''The'' ''BMJ'' , ''

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, r ...

'', '' The New Zealand Medical Journal,'' '' BMC Public Health,'' and '' Disability and Rehabilitation.'' In addition to her work as an academic researcher, Harwood practices as a trainee GP at

Papakura Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. Papakura is a M� ...

Marae Health Clinic. Harwood is the recipient of several national and international awards, including the 2018 Matariki Award, Tūhono for Improving Māori Health, the 2017 New Zealand L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship, and the 2017 Dr Maarire Goodall Award. Harwood has served on national health committees, including as a member of the PBRF Assessment Panel (2018 onwards), and the Expert Advisory Group for New Zealand Health Strategy (2018 onwards) and as a board member for the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (2017 onwards), the

Health Research Council Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organizat ...

(2009–2016), the Waitematā District Health Board (2016 onwards), and the Asthma Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand (2006–2010; 2016 onwards). In 2019, Harwood was awarded the Health Research Council of New Zealand's Te Tohu Rapuora Award. During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Harwood has been the representative of Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā National Māori Pandemic Group on the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group. In the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, Harwood received the

King's Service Medal The King's Service Medal (created as the Queen's Service Medal in 1975 and renamed in 2024) is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or app ...

, for services to Māori health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harwood, Matire 21st-century New Zealand scientists Women medical researchers New Zealand medical researchers 21st-century New Zealand medical doctors Ngāpuhi people University of Otago alumni University of Auckland alumni Academic staff of the University of Auckland L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science fellows Medical journal editors New Zealand Māori medical doctors 1970 births Living people New Zealand Māori academics Waitemata District Health Board members New Zealand Māori women academics New Zealand women academics 21st-century New Zealand women medical doctors Medical doctors from Auckland Recipients of the King's Service Medal