About the Health Data Platform

The Health Data Platform provides data curation services in a secure environment.

Our service includes linkage across datasets from Te Whatu Ora National Collections, and compatible NHI encryption to enable external research datasets to be linked to national data.

Our Values and Principles

The Health Data Platform is guided by the following values and principles, building on those of University of Auckland and Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, as well as the values of Te Kahui Raraunga | the Māori data governance model:

  • Excellence in data science and health research
  • Ethical and safe practice
  • Efficient re-use of health data
  • Nurture data as taonga
  • Mana taurite (inclusion / equity)
  • Rangatiratanga (active leadership)
  • Manaakitanga
  • Whanaungatanga
  • Kaitiakitanga
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“Health data represents people and must be respected – from how it is collected, to how it is managed and stored, and importantly, how it is understood, analysed and interpreted.”
Katrina Poppe

Co-Director, Health Data Platform

Our team

Photograph of Vanessa Selak, team member of Health Data Platform
VANESSA SELAK, PLATFORM CO-DIRECTOR
Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Vanessa is a medically trained epidemiologist and Public Health Medicine Specialist with 20 years’ health sector experience in clinical, planning, funding, and quality roles.

The use of routinely collected health data to improve health outcomes and equity has underpinned Vanessa’s academic and health sector roles. Seeing the potential and challenges associated with the use of such data led Vanessa to recognise the need for the Health Data Platform, which she established with Katrina.

As co-director of the Platform, Vanessa works alongside Katrina, supporting Platform development and governance.

Photograph of Katrina Poppe, team member of Health Data Platform
KATRINA POPPE, PLATFORM CO-DIRECTOR
Associate Professor

Katrina is a biostatistician and clinical cardiac physiologist with extensive experience in cardiovascular disease from the perspectives of data science, clinical practice, and clinical, epidemiological and methodological research.

As co-director, Katrina oversees the team operations and management of the Health Data Platform.

Photograph of Mazyar Zarepour, team member of Health Data Platform
MAZYAR ZAREPOUR, DATA SCIENTIST

Mazyar Zarepour is a Doctoral Candidate in Engineering Science, his research focuses on building data-driven optimisation models to improve healthcare systems. He is interested in developing computational algorithms and simulation methods to solve these models.

Mazyar oversees the data management of the Health Data Platform and provides data linkage and cohorting services.

His vision is to combine data science and operations research to empower efficient health service delivery.

Our Governance

As a University of Auckland Research Platform, the Health Data Platform is governed by the University of Auckland Research Platforms Policy, and ultimately the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research (DVC-R), Professor Frank Bloomfield, via the University’s Health Research Governance Committee.

Our Reference Group

As the Health Data Platform is hosted by the Faculty of Medical Health Sciences (FMHS), it reports to the DVC-R via the FMHS Faculty Platform Oversight Group (chaired by the Dean, FMHS or their delegate). This Group reports to the FMHS Faculty Executive Committee chaired by the Dean, FMHS, Professor Warwick Bagg.

A Health Data Platform Reference Group has been established to inform our strategy and good practice (chaired by the Deputy Dean, FMHS, Associate Professor Matire Harwood (Ngāpuhi)).

Our Reference Group

Reference Group Chair
Associate Professor Matire Harwood (Ngāpuhi) (Manukura Rua | Deputy Dean, FMHS)
Formerly Head of Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Associate Professor Matire Harwood (Ngāpuhi) is the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

A practicing GP, Matire has a passion for delivering interprofessional, evidenced-based primary care in Papakura and leads clinical and qualitative research with a focus on managing long term conditions in the community. 

Reference Group Members

Get in touch

If you’re interested in using our service or finding out how we can help your research or teaching, please reach out to our team.