Rate My Professor Michael Keall

Professor Michael Keall is a Research Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, a position he has held since joining the university in 2006. He earned a BA (Hons) and a PhD in Injury Epidemiology. As Co-director of He Kāinga Oranga / Housing and Health Research Programme and Director of the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, an interdisciplinary centre addressing urban challenges related to health, safety, wellbeing, and the environment, Keall applies injury epidemiology and biostatistics to improve housing and road safety while promoting active travel. His leadership in the Home Injury Prevention Intervention (HIPI), a major cluster-randomised controlled trial funded by the New Zealand Health Research Council, demonstrated that targeted home modifications, such as installing grab rails, reduced falls by 27 percent with a benefit-cost ratio of 9:1 in the pilot phase. He also leads the Safety on Steps study, building on HIPI findings.

Keall was a co-recipient of the Royal Society Te Apārangi 2021 Rutherford Medal, New Zealand's premier research award, alongside colleagues from He Kāinga Oranga for their preeminent work on housing and health. He serves on the editorial boards of three international journals: Accident Analysis and Prevention, Journal of Transport and Health, and Journal of Road Safety. His influential publications include 'Pedestrian exposure to risk of road accident in New Zealand' (Accident Analysis & Prevention, 1995), 'Home modifications to reduce injuries from falls in the Home Injury Prevention Intervention (HIPI) study: a cluster-randomised controlled trial' (The Lancet, 2015), 'Assessing housing quality and its impact on health, safety and sustainability' (Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2010), and 'Home modifications to prevent home fall injuries in houses with Māori occupants (MHIPI): a randomised controlled trial' (The Lancet Public Health, 2021). This body of work has contributed to evidence supporting the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act 2017 and enhanced public understanding of environmental factors in injury prevention. In 2023, he delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture titled 'Professor by accidents'.