Dr Corina Grey has been appointed as the new Director of Public Health from 5 May.
Public Health Agency Deputy Director-General Dr Andrew Old says Dr Grey has an extensive career working in research, epidemiology and public health.
Her work has included a prior role at the Ministry of Health as Chief Clinical Advisor Pacific Health and during the COVID-19 response, when she provided support in a range of areas, including case management and contact tracing, and standing up COVID vaccination centres.
Dr Grey is a public health physician and holds a PhD in population health.
She has been involved in many health research projects over the last 20 years with research interests that include population and heart health, health equity, improving health care access, and the health of Pacific peoples.
She rejoins the Ministry now after serving as Deputy Secretary of Policy and Insights at the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, where she says she has been deeply grateful for the opportunity to focus on work to improve outcomes for Pacific communities in Aotearoa.
Dr Old says Dr Grey's experience at the Ministry of Pacific Peoples and prior to that in a range of clinical and public health roles, including strategy and policy, funding and planning, and academia, will be an invaluable contribution to the Director of Public Health role.
Dr Grey is currently the chair of the National Verification Committee for the Elimination of Measles and Rubella. She is a member of the National Mortality Review Committee, the Public Health Research Committee at the Health Research Council, the NZ Committee of the Cardiac Society of Australia and NZ, and the Steering Committee of the Public Health Observatory of New Zealand.
In recent years, Dr Grey has also been a lead author on several national Pacific health publications, including Te Mana Ola: The Pacific Health Strategy, Ola Manuia: Interim Pacific Health Plan, and Bula Sautu - A window on quality 2021: Pacific health in the year of COVID-19.
