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About Rebecca
Associate Professor Rebecca McLean is based in the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago's Christchurch campus, within the Faculty of Medicine. She holds a PhD in Public Health, an MA in Psychology, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts from the University of Otago. Following her PhD, she completed a University of Otago Division of Health Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2013 to 2015. Since 2023, she has served as Co-Director of the Transport, Society and Environment Group. Her research focuses on transport and mobility across the life course, driver licensing and road safety, ageing, accessibility, and health. McLean employs longitudinal and mixed-methods research to study psychosocial, health, and behavioural aspects of driving self-regulation and cessation among older adults, as well as transport and mobility experiences of kaumātua and whānau. She is Principal Investigator on Health Research Council projects, including NZPATHS ('Whiria te tāngata: Out-of-home mobility of Māori and non-Māori over 65') from 2022 to 2026, and earlier grants awarded in 2018 and 2015. She also contributes as co-investigator to projects on concessionary fares for public transport and travel injury rates by mode of transport.
McLean's scholarly impact is reflected in publications such as 'Planning for driving cessation: A cross-sectional study of community dwelling older drivers (NZPATHS)' (Journal of Transport & Health, 2025), 'Transport practices of Māori Kaumātua (Indigenous elders) in Aotearoa New Zealand: Baseline findings from prospective older adults transport and health study (NZPATHS)' (BMC Public Health, 2025), 'An evaluation of the New Zealand SilverTech smartphone course for older adults' (Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2024), and 'Role of exposure in quantifying transport injury and fatality risk by mode of transport: A systematic review' (Injury Prevention, 2024). She has co-authored studies on graduated driver licensing, young driver crashes, and driving anxiety in older adults. Awards include HRC Project Grants (2022, 2018, 2015) and the Griffith Criminology Institute and School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Visiting Scholars Award (2018). Her service includes the Management Board of Collaboration for Ageing Research Excellence (2016–present), Steering Committee of Transport Research Network (2020–present), Chair of the Board of Studies for Postgraduate Education in Public Health (2022–2024), and leadership in the Australasian College of Road Safety as Vice President (Finance and Administration) (2021–2023). She convenes PUBH 744 Healthy Public Policy and Advanced Learning in Medicine 'Youth Community Health'.
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