Dr. Dianne Wepa is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching at Charles Darwin University. She has an extensive research background in Māori health, cultural safety, mental health, and social work education. Her research has significantly impacted Indigenous health, digital health tools, and mental health interventions, particularly for Māori communities and First Nations peoples in Australia.
Dr. Wepa's work has received multiple awards for her research and secured prestigious research grants, such as the Health Research Council of New Zealand’s Māori Health Research Development Grant and funding for digital health tool co-development for suicide prevention from the National Institute for Health Research in the UK. She actively supervises PhD and Master’s students in health, social work, and Indigenous studies, providing research opportunities in cultural safety, mental health, and digital health innovations. Research students and early career academics working with Dr. Wepa benefit from her international collaborations with institutions in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. Opportunities exist for students to engage in interdisciplinary projects, policy development, and community-driven research, ensuring meaningful contributions to global health equity.
Research Interests
- Suicide prevention
- digital health technology
- co-design
- mixed methods
- constructivist grounded theory
- Indigenous methodologies
- rural and remote health
- pandemic and natural disaster responses