Celebrating Associate Professor Karen Brewer’s Promotion
Pūtahi Manawa | Healthy Hearts Aotearoa New Zealand warmly congratulates Karen Brewer (Whakatōhea, Ngāi Te Rangi) on her promotion to Associate Professor at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences — a significant and well-deserved milestone in her research career.
Karen is a kaupapa Māori researcher, with a background in speech-language therapy, whose work centres on improving health equity for Māori. She holds dual appointments as Co-Director Māori of Pūtahi Manawa (CoRE) and Senior Research Fellow in Speech Science (Psychology) at the University of Auckland.
Karen completed her PhD in Speech Science at Waipapa Taumata Rau in 2014, following earlier study in speech-language therapy and linguistics. Her clinical experience at Waikato Hospital first revealed to her the challenges faced by whānau Māori affected by stroke — insights that shaped her doctoral research into the experiences of Māori with aphasia and continue to drive her commitment to kaupapa Māori solutions.
From 2020 to 2023, Karen was a senior research fellow on Manawataki Fatu Fatu for ACCESS, a major programme funded by the Heart Foundation, the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge, with assistance from Pūtahi Manawa. Her work focused on access-related inequities in cardiovascular care for Māori and Pacific peoples, using kaupapa Māori and Pacific methodologies across interviews, focus groups, and community engagement.
Her research has been widely published in journals including Aphasiology, Journal of Primary Health Care, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, New Zealand Medical Journal, Speech, Language and Hearing, and BMC Global and Public Health. A notable recent publication is her co-authored article from the Manawataki FATU FATU for Access project, titled Māori and Pacific families’ experiences and perspectives of cardiovascular care; A qualitative study.
Reflecting on her promotion, Karen shared:
“What’s most important to me with this promotion is that it recognises my work with Māori communities and my involvement in projects outside the University, such as the revision of the New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association (NZSTA) Programme Accreditation Framework. It’s not just about publications in high-impact journals (because, let’s face it, qualitative kaupapa Māori research doesn’t often feature in high-impact journals). I also appreciate the ‘achievement relative to opportunity’ clause, which acknowledged my whānau commitments and how they impact the time I have available for academic pursuits.”
Karen’s promotion reflects her sustained contribution to Māori health research, cultural safety, aphasia and stroke recovery, and Māori workforce development. It is also a testament to her leadership, scholarship, and deep commitment to improving outcomes for Māori communities.
Ngā mihi nui, Associate Professor Brewer — we are proud to celebrate this achievement with you.