Rate My Professor Fiona Turnbull

Dr Fiona Turnbull serves as Director of the New Zealand Child and Youth Epidemiology Service (NZCYES) and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health within the Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Otago. She holds the qualifications MBChB, PhD, and FAFPHM. In her leadership role, Dr Turnbull oversees the production of annual reports that monitor health and well-being indicators for tamariki and rangitahi across Aotearoa New Zealand, utilizing national administrative data sources. Established in 2004 and hosted by the University of Otago since 2009, the NZCYES is funded by Te Whatu Ora and the Paediatric Society of New Zealand. These reports highlight key areas such as mental health, oral health, unintentional injuries, neurodevelopmental conditions, and intentional injuries, identifying disparities and inequities to inform health policy development and clinical practice.

Dr Turnbull has co-authored numerous NZCYES reports, including 'Kanorau ā-roro: Neurodevelopmental conditions in children and young people in Aotearoa' (2025), 'Mental health of children and young people in Aotearoa 2023' (2025), 'Mental health of children and young people in the Northern region' (2025), 'Oral health of children and young people in Aotearoa 2023' (2024), 'Unintentional injuries among children and young people' (2024), and 'Intentional injuries of children and young people in the Northern region' (2024). She has also contributed to conference posters presented at the Paediatric Society of New Zealand 76th Annual Meeting in 2025, such as 'An interactive dashboard for monitoring child and youth health outcomes in New Zealand', 'NZCYES child and youth health reporting in the age of “AI”', 'Predictors of postnatal mental health', and 'Demographic distribution of children and young people with neurodevelopmental disorders in Aotearoa'. Through these contributions, Dr Turnbull plays a pivotal role in advancing evidence-based strategies for improving child and youth health outcomes nationwide.