Rate My Professor Andrea Teng

Dr Andrea Teng is a Senior Research Fellow and Public Health Physician in the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington. She holds qualifications including MBChB, PhD, MPH, MSc, and FNZCPHM. Teng's research specializations focus on the prevention of non-communicable diseases and addressing health inequities using routinely collected linked administrative data, such as from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure. As leader of the Virtual Health Information Network, a secure platform for accessing linked health and social data, and the Virtual Diabetes Register, she promotes high-quality research and builds capacity in big data analysis. Her academic interests include epidemiology of chronic conditions, ethnic inequalities in mortality and cancer, Helicobacter pylori-related stomach cancer prevention, and evaluation of fiscal policies like sugar-sweetened beverage and food taxes to improve food environments in Aotearoa New Zealand and Pacific Island countries.

Teng joined the University of Otago in 2015 as a Fellow, advancing to Senior Research Fellow. She has led major projects funded by the Marsden Fund, including the evaluation of Tonga food excise taxes and subsidies for non-communicable disease prevention (2024-2027); the Cancer Society project on Helicobacter pylori screen-and-treat for stomach cancer (2025-2027); Healthier Lives National Science Challenge on integrated data for health inequities (2020-2024); and University of Otago Research Grants on primary health care funding targeting and Tonga food import taxes (2023-2024). Key publications encompass Satherley et al. (2026) on gastric cancer survival inequities in the New Zealand Medical Journal; Park et al. (2026) on Helicobacter pylori screen-and-treat programs in the New England Journal of Medicine; Teng et al. (2026) on tax waivers for healthy foods in Tonga in BMJ Public Health; and Teng et al. (2021) on progress in Pacific sugar-sweetened beverage taxes. Her contributions have advanced understanding of disease burdens and policy impacts, influencing public health strategies on equity and chronic disease prevention. She is affiliated with the Integrated Data Research Group, Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit, and Cancer and Chronic Conditions research group.