Essa Tawfiq is a medical doctor by background. He earned his MPH degree from Tulane University, USA in 2010 and received his PhD degree from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2015. Before moving to New Zealand in 2012, Essa worked for more than 15 years in clinical and public health settings in Afghanistan. In January 2016, Essa joined the University of Auckland, and worked in several research projects related to predictive...view more
Essa Tawfiq is a medical doctor by background. He earned his MPH degree from Tulane University, USA in 2010 and received his PhD degree from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2015. Before moving to New Zealand in 2012, Essa worked for more than 15 years in clinical and public health settings in Afghanistan. In January 2016, Essa joined the University of Auckland, and worked in several research projects related to predictive modelling of outcomes of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease and examining healthiness of household food purchases in New Zealand. In April 2023, Essa jointed the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Australia, and has been involved in research on COVID-19, PPE (personal protective equipment), health impacts of bushfires, and effects of flu vaccination on cardiovascular disease.
Essa’s research interests include predictive modelling of outcomes of cancer and cardiovascular disease, quality of maternal and child health services, healthy food environments, health risks of bushfire smoke, PPE, and COVID-19.
My Grants
2021-2022 AMRF (Auckland Medical Research Foundation) Research Grants - Prediction of cardiovascular risks in cancer patients
My Qualifications
Medical Degree (MD)
Master in Public Health (MPH) in Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Health Interventions
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Results-based Financing of Healthcare Programs
My Awards
Fulbright Scholarships, USA, 2008
Victoria University Scholarships, New Zealand, 2012
My Research Activities
Essa is an emerging researcher on COVID-19, PPE, cancer, cardiovascular disease, healthy food environments, and quality of maternal and child health services. He has published several research papers on cardiovascular disease, cancer, healthy food environments, and quality of maternal and child health services in high-impact international journals.
Since April 2023, Essa has been part of the biosecurity research team, based in the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney. He has led the design and data analyses of two papers on COVID-19 and contributed to the methodology of several studies on PPE, effects of flu vaccine on cardiovascular disease, and effects of bushfire smoke on viral respiratory infections.
