Rate My Professor Lois Surgenor

Professor Lois J. Surgenor is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Division of Health Sciences. She holds an MA and DipClinPsych from the University of Canterbury, a PhD from the University of Otago, and is a Fellow of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (FNZCCPsych). Having joined the University of Otago in 1996, she completed her PhD in 2002. She was promoted to Professor and gave her Inaugural Professorial Lecture in 2019 entitled "Journeys through eating disorders." In her current role, she serves as Associate Dean (Academic) for the Health Sciences Division based at the Christchurch campus (0.5 FTE), with the other portion of her time spent as a professional advisor for a health regulatory authority.

Professor Surgenor's academic interests include eating and weight disorders, psychological aspects of chronic and life-shortening illnesses, mild traumatic brain injury outcomes, professional misconduct and rehabilitation in fields such as health, education, and law, and psychiatric issues in emergency services personnel. With 83 publications and over 2,300 citations, her influential works encompass "Characteristics of professional misconduct by school teachers and early childhood educators: 5 years of disciplinary decisions in New Zealand" (2025), "To Impose or Not Impose Penalty Conditions Following Professional Misconduct: What Factors Are Cited by Three Professional Disciplinary Tribunals in New Zealand?" (2024), "The impact of fear avoidance on return to work outcomes after mild traumatic brain injury" (2024), "Psychosocial and financial impacts for carers of those with eating disorders" (2022, Journal of Eating Disorders), "Criminal Convictions of Disciplined Health Practitioners in New Zealand" (2022), "Fifteen Years On: What Patterns Continue to Emerge from New Zealand's Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal?" (2020), and "Assessment of anorexia nervosa: an overview of universal cognitive constructs" (2013). She contributes to two international journal editorial boards, participates in New Zealand and Australian health practice guideline development, and provides media commentary on eating disorders and mental health.