Rate My Professor Jane Taafaki

Dr. Jane Taafaki is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Va’a o Tautai – Centre for Pacific Health in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago. Of Tuvaluan-British heritage, she was born in England, lived in India until age 11, then moved to the USA for her parents’ graduate studies. She earned a BA from George Washington University, spent seven years in the Marshall Islands post-university, pursued an MPA at the University of Hawaii where she worked for 15 years, and relocated to Oamaru, Otago, for her PhD at the University of Otago. Her doctoral research explored the lived experiences of rural Tuvaluan migrants navigating the Aotearoa New Zealand healthcare system. Currently a full-time researcher, she also teaches the Pacific Health curriculum in Health Professional Programmes across allied health sciences including pharmacy, public health, dentistry, oral health, and physiotherapy. Additionally, she serves as Research Lead and health navigator for the Oamaru Pacific Island Community Group.

Taafaki’s research specializations center on Pacific and rural health. Her postdoctoral work develops a model for COVID-19 response drawn from a rural Otago Pacific organization’s experiences. She leads the HRC Pacific Emerging Researcher Grant project, Understanding occupational health and hazard exposures in rural Pacific meatworkers (2025, $399,999), employing fa’afaletui and talanoa methods to assess musculoskeletal injuries, wellbeing, and safety in Oamaru, Balclutha, and Pareora meat plants. Other funded projects include HRC Activation Grants for Tauhi Va (Pacific communities and pharmacists), empowering health pathways for Pacific meatworkers, rural health outcomes; Paykel Trust on vaccine hesitation in rural Pacific communities; and HRC rural health projects. Key publications encompass He Aroka Urutā: Rural health provider perspectives of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in rural Aotearoa New Zealand with a focus on Māori and Pasifika communities (Journal of Primary Health Care, 2024), Views on vaccination in a New Zealand rural Pasifika community: a qualitative study (Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2025), and Development of an Interactive Web App to Examine Rural Health Workforce Distribution (New Zealand Population Review, 2024). Conference contributions include presentations at the 21st WONCA World Rural Health Conference (2026) on Pacific health outcomes influenced by rurality and deprivation. She belongs to the Early Researchers Advancement Group, Southern All Clinical Immunisation Advisory Group, and National Pacific Bowel Screening Advisory.