Rate My Professor Erin Penno

Dr Erin Penno is a Senior Lecturer in public health in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago, Faculty of Medicine. She holds qualifications of BMLSc, DPH, and PhD. Her PhD research examined the analysis of New Zealand's population-based funding formula used to allocate funding to District Health Boards. Penno's research spans health systems, health policy, and health economics, focusing on optimizing outcomes and improving the quality, sustainability, and equity of health systems. Her key academic interests include health system design and healthcare delivery, health funding, and the relationship between public and private health sectors. She is dedicated to strengthening the performance of Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system, with expertise in health services research.

Penno's career history at the University of Otago includes serving as Research Associate in the Department of General Practice and Rural Health from October 2018 to September 2020, followed by Lecturer and Senior Lecturer roles in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine from April 2020 to present. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including 'Facilitators and barriers for public-private partnerships for universal health coverage in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review' (Otchere et al., 2025, Health Policy & Planning), 'Public-private partnerships for universal health coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review protocol' (Otchere et al., 2025, Health Science Reports), 'How did New Zealand's regional district health board groupings work to improve service integration and health outcomes: A realist evaluation' (Penno et al., 2023, BMJ Open), 'Private choices, public costs: Evaluating cost-shifting between private and public health sectors in New Zealand' (Penno et al., 2021), 'How are population-based funding formulae for healthcare composed? A comparative analysis of seven models' (Penno et al., 2013), 'Cost-Effectiveness of Surveillance for Bloodstream Infections for Sepsis Management in Low-Resource Settings' (Penno et al., 2015), and 'The role, costs and value for money of external consultancies in the health sector: A study of New Zealand's District Health Boards' (Akmal et al., 2017). Penno received the Best Early Career Researcher Paper award from the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand and a Research Staff Speaker Award from the Otago Medical School Research Society Meeting in 2024. She contributes to teaching, including PUBH714 Public Policy and Health Systems.