Rate My Professor Gordon Purdie

Gordon Purdie is a Senior Research Fellow in biostatistics within the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, part of the Division of Health Sciences. Holding a BSc, he served as a vital member of the Biostatistical Consulting Service team, delivering statistical consulting to health researchers. Now retired, Purdie continues to support ongoing projects. His work centers on discrimination and health inequalities, with involvement in key initiatives such as the Differential Colon Cancer Survival by Ethnicity in New Zealand project under the Health Inequalities Research programme and the Unequal Treatment: The Role of Health Services collaboration with Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare.

Purdie's career features co-authorship on impactful publications addressing public health challenges. These include Wickens et al. (2008) 'A differential effect of 2 probiotics in the prevention of eczema and atopy: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial' in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology; Sarfati et al. (2009) 'The effect of comorbidity on the use of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival from colon cancer: a retrospective cohort study' in BMC Cancer; Hill et al. (2010) 'Ethnicity and management of colon cancer in New Zealand: a study of diagnostic and treatment preferences' in Cancer; Brewer et al. (2011) 'Does comorbidity explain the ethnic inequalities in cervical cancer survival in New Zealand? A retrospective cohort study' in BMC Cancer; Mihaere et al. (2009) 'Prevalence and Risk Factors Among Māori and Non-Māori' in Sleep; Darlow et al. (2022) 'Longitudinal impact of preregistration interprofessional education on the attitudes and skills of health professionals during their early careers: a non-randomised trial with 4-year outcomes' in BMJ Open; and Thomas et al. (2021) 'Descriptive analysis of group A Streptococcus in skin swabs and acute rheumatic fever, Auckland, New Zealand, 2010–2016' in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. His statistical expertise has bolstered studies on probiotics effects, cancer outcomes by ethnicity, sleep apnea disparities, rheumatic fever surveillance, interprofessional education, and stemness markers in lung adenocarcinoma, enhancing the field's understanding of health disparities and interventions.