Rate My Professor Vanda Symon

Dr Vanda Symon serves as Associate Dean Pacific (Pharmacy) and Research Fellow in the Division of Health Sciences at the University of Otago, affiliated with Va’a o Tautai – Centre for Pacific Health. A University of Otago alumna, she holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours (BPharm Hons), a Postgraduate Certificate in Pharmacy Research, and a PhD awarded in 2018 for her thesis 'The Communication of Science through Crime Fiction'. Symon began her professional career in community and palliative care pharmacy in Hawke’s Bay, where she also owned a pharmacy. While raising her two sons, she pursued creative writing, becoming an acclaimed crime fiction author before returning to the university to complete her PhD and embrace research.

Her research specializations focus on health services for Pacific communities, particularly access to medicines amid social disadvantage and needs of families with age-related cognitive impairment in Pacific peoples. As lead researcher on a Brain Research New Zealand-funded project titled 'Exploring the needs of Pacific families affected by age-related cognitive impairment', she investigates services, information, and unmet needs in dementia care. Key recent publications include co-authored articles: 'Does access to medicines differ from access to healthcare? Experiences of barriers to medicines access by people facing social disadvantage' (Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy, 2025), 'Lived experience of affordability as a barrier to prescription medicines: A longitudinal qualitative study' (Exploratory Research in Clinical & Social Pharmacy, 2025), and 'Why go back?: Advantages and challenges of longitudinal qualitative research in social pharmacy, and recommendations for social pharmacy researchers' (International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 2025). Symon teaches Pharmacy law, serves as an executive member of the Te Tītoki Mataora Health Tech Capability Programme, and presents at conferences on Pasifika health and MedTech research. A Fijian New Zealander, she is committed to improving Pacific health outcomes. Her science communication expertise informs both research and her Sam Shephard crime series, with Overkill shortlisted for the 2019 Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award.