It is difficult to envisage a future where health improves in environments that actively hinder it
Qualifications
Research Interests
Dr. Matt Hobbs uses geospatial and population health methods to inform local and national public health policy to plan healthy places and reduce health inequities. He conducts research in the areas of: i) physical activity and sport; ii) geospatial and population health; and iii) social and cultural inequity.
His research is consistently published in world-leading journals such as The Lancet and JAMA Paediatrics, and important field-leading journals such as Preventive Medicine and the International Journal of Obesity.
His commitment to high quality research and teaching has been recognized by securing several coveted research and teaching awards. Perhaps most prestigiously, in 2019 he was awarded by the European Association for the Study of Obesity the New Investigator Award in Public Health which recognises “rising stars in the field of obesity through their wider contributions to Public Health and are highly regarded throughout the scientific community”.
He is on the international advisory panel and is deputy editor for Perspectives in Public Health a flagship journal of the Royal Society for Public Health (MRSPH) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA & PGCHE).
Recent Publications
- Desjardins MR., Murray ET., Baranyi G., Hobbs M. and Curtis S. (2023) Improving longitudinal research in geospatial health: An agenda. Health and Place 80 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102994.
- Lee JJM., Schluter PJ., Hodgett M., Deng B. and Hobbs M. (2023) Adolescents and oral health service utilization in Canterbury, New Zealand: A geospatial cross-sectional study. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdoe.12858.
- Marek L., Hills S., Wiki J., Campbell M. and Hobbs M. (2023) Towards a better understanding of residential mobility and the environments in which adults reside: A nationwide geospatial study from Aotearoa New Zealand. Habitat International 133 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2023.102762.
- Schluter PJ., Hobbs M., Ahuriri-Driscoll A., Kokaua J., Singh S. and Lee M. (2023) The pattern of association between early childhood caries and body mass index in pre-school children within Aotearoa. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdoe.12837.
- Boden J., Hetrick S., Bowden N., Fortune S., Marek L., Theodore R., Ruhe T., Kokaua J. and Hobbs M. (2022) Empowering community control over alcohol availability as a suicide and self-harm prevention measure: Policy opportunity in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific 29 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2022.100631.