Rate My Professor Ella Iosua

Dr. Ella Iosua serves as a Senior Research Fellow and Consulting Biostatistician in the Biostatistics Centre, part of the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She earned her BA, Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Statistics (PGDipApStat), Postgraduate Certificate in Public Health (PGCertPH), and PhD from the University of Otago. Her PhD, completed in 2013, investigated employment among schoolchildren and its associations with adult substance use, psychological well-being, and academic achievement, drawing from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study.

Dr. Iosua's research specializations encompass biostatistics applied to public health and medicine. She provides statistical expertise to health researchers, with substantial experience in cancer studies examining mortality, services, awareness, perceptions, and risk factors. She has also contributed to longitudinal cohort studies on children's eating behaviors and body mass index. Her career includes postdoctoral research in the Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Research Unit within the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine. Key publications include "A Randomised Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of Personalised Diet and Physical Activity Intervention Versus Usual Care on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Adults with Inactive Inflammatory Bowel Disease" (Nutrients, 2026), "High Sunburn Rates in Aotearoa: We Need More Investment in Skin Cancer Prevention" (The Briefing, 2026), "Inflammatory Bowel Disease Exercise and Diet (IBDeat) Study: Lifestyle-Associated CVD Risk Factors Among Individuals with IBD in New Zealand" (Crohn's & Colitis 360, 2025), "Dietary and Physical Activity Habits of Adults with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Aotearoa, New Zealand: A Cross-Sectional Study" (Nutrition & Dietetics, 2025), "Palliative and End of Life Care in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Survey of New Zealand Medical Schools" (BMC Medical Education, 2022), and "Cancer Information Seeking Among Adult New Zealanders: A National Cross-Sectional Study" (Journal of Cancer Education, 2018). Dr. Iosua has co-authored over 40 publications garnering 378 citations and delivered seminars such as "How to Collaborate with a Biostatistician from the Biostatistics Centre" (2025).