Rate My Professor Jean Cockram

Jean Cockram served as Manager of the Healthier Lives – He Oranga Hauora National Science Challenge, hosted by the University of Otago's Department of Medicine in Dunedin. The challenge, directed by Professor Jim Mann, was one of New Zealand's National Science Challenges established to generate evidence and capability for reducing health inequities. Under her leadership in operations and management, the initiative addressed key portfolios including healthy food and physical activity environments, progress towards a tobacco-free Aotearoa, culturally centred health interventions for Māori and Pacific peoples, and complex systems approaches to improving health outcomes. Cockram oversaw the operational aspects from the challenge's inception around 2015 until its conclusion in 2024, facilitating research collaborations across universities and sectors.

Cockram contributed directly to several key outputs of the challenge. She co-authored the capstone publication 'Healthier Lives for All New Zealanders: Evidence for equitable health outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand', released in June 2024 alongside Parry Guilford and Cherie Stayner, which synthesised evidence from funded projects on nutrition, physical activity, and other factors influencing non-communicable diseases. She was acknowledged for her contributions to the Policy Inventory report in 2022, the 'Pathways between research, policy and practice' report in 2022 co-written with Jim Mann, Cherie Stayner, and Jessica Glen, and the Healthy Food and Physical Activity Environments stocktake and workshop reports in 2019. In 2018, as Operations Manager, she supported a project with Pacific Rugby Players United to promote health initiatives among Pacific communities. Earlier, in 2017, she was involved with the Non-Communicable Diseases Collaborating for Research Centre (NCD CRCC). In 2019, she endorsed an open letter from academics, researchers, and educators supporting the school strike for climate. Her work supported the challenge's production of policy-relevant research, workshops, and case studies, enhancing New Zealand's public health landscape through administrative and coordinative expertise at the University of Otago.