Jamie-Lee Rahiri: just getting started

Jamie-Lee Rahiri was still in high school when she was selected for the New Zealand women’s squad to compete at the waka ama world championships in 2006.

“She was known as the best steerer in New Zealand,” recalls Professor Matire Harwood. Matire was then in her early thirties when she first met the teenaged Jamie-Lee at a training camp, as a fellow member of the squad.

“As long as I’ve known her,” says the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences deputy dean, “I’ve been amazed by her excellence, but it’s always integrated and aligned with who she authentically is, and with the values of her whānau.”

They’re qualities that others have recognised too – most recently through a 2025 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship, with Jamie-Lee one of four (and the only from New Zealand) to receive the honour for advancing research in their field.

Jamie-Lee (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi) has had a stellar rise as an early-career clinical researcher, focused on understanding and addressing health inequities among Māori. Currently a third-year general surgery trainee based at North Shore Hospital, the University of Auckland senior research fellow has been recognised for improving surgical care for Māori patients and inspiring the next generation of wāhine Māori in medicine.

The fellowship comes hot on the heels of Jamie-Lee receiving the John Corboy Medal – the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ top honour for a surgical trainee – in May.

Jamie-Lee says she’s been surprised by the wins, which also prompted a couple of thoughts.

“I’ve often felt I was just quietly working in my own corner, focused on the task at hand. Reading the nominations made me realise that others see real impact in my work – that was humbling and affirming,” she says.

“I also felt a bit whakamā [embarrassed] – as though I don’t deserve this recognition yet, because I know I’m only just beginning to scratch the surface of what I hope to contribute to our people and my profession.”

A passion for surgery

Jamie-Lee spent her first decade in small-town Tokoroa, before moving to Auckland. She had early exposure to tertiary education through her mum, who enrolled in a Bachelor of Science as a mature student at the University’s Tāmaki campus.

“My mum was a single parent, so I often found myself sitting in lecture theatres alongside her. At the time, it felt like tagging along but, in retrospect, it was formative. It opened my eyes to the fact that education didn’t stop at school.”
High school uncovered a passion for chemistry and by year 12 at Northcote College she’d decided on becoming a doctor.

“I initially aspired to be a GP,” she says, “simply because that was all I had ever seen. Growing up in Tokoroa, there were no specialist doctors in the hospital or even in the wider community, so my initial understanding of the world of medicine was defined by general practice.”

Jamie-Lee graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) in 2014, then undertook her residency at Middlemore Hospital. It was there, she says, that her focus shifted from general practice to surgery by chance.

“I was on a team with all female surgeons who were so supportive and doing amazing work. They were ambitious, intelligent and amazing technicians,” she recalls. “At first I was reluctant to voice to them that I really loved surgery, knowing the commitment required; but, when it got back to them, they sat me down and said ‘if you want to do surgery, we’ll back you’.”

Award-winning research

She moved from being a house officer to a surgical registrar, then applying for surgical training. However, aware of the punishing hours required for the latter and with one young daughter and a desire for more children, Jamie Lee decided to take another turn.

She took up an offer from Professor Andrew Hill to join his research team and embarked on a PhD in surgery.

While working at Middlemore Hospital she’d seen an increase in funding for bariatric surgery to combat growing obesity among Counties Manukau’s population. However, she noticed that the processes for selecting candidates for the surgery appeared to favour those who had the resources that made it easier for them to attend appointments, for example, and lose weight prior to surgery.

“It struck me that access to surgery had, in many ways, become a lottery of privilege, and that challenged me deeply. Equity in healthcare shouldn’t depend on who you are or the resources you have – or don’t have – but unfortunately, when we look at the data, it does.”

Her PhD, co-supervised by Matire, dug into this by exploring Māori experiences of bariatric surgery, focused on Counties Manukau. It surveyed perspectives of patients who battled negative societal views and stigmatisation related to obesity and found that the quality of their surgical outcomes related to the support they had access to. It also provided a potential model for more equitable, patient-centred care.

Her PhD won a 2020 Vice-Chancellor’s Best Thesis award, but not everyone, she says, was happy with what it unearthed. Surgery is an inherently stressful profession, she says, and being told you’re providing inequitable care creates added pressure. But highlighting inequity isn’t about apportioning blame, she says; it’s about being open to accepting that “when inequities are revealed in our data, it’s an opportunity to pause and ask ourselves as clinicians how we can do better”.

“Then we need to consider how to reshape our systems and look inward at our own practice in a culturally safe manner to ensure we’re delivering equitable care.”

Addressing inequity remains a focus for Jamie-Lee’s research, which has evolved to look at the outcomes for Māori from other operations. During her surgical training she has worked at hospitals in Tairāwhiti, Taranaki and Auckland. How surgical outcomes compare across regions and within a large city has become another subject of her research.

Supporting others

As well as recognising Jamie-Lee’s research and clinical excellence, the For Women in Science Fellowship and John Corboy Medal both recognise her work supporting the next generation of wāhine Māori surgeons and researchers.

Jamie-Lee has been a pioneer of Te Poka Pū, an initiative that supports and advances Māori into surgery, and is part the Surgical Sisterhood, which supports and advances wāhine Māori and Pacific women to enter and advance surgical careers. At the University, she also supervises honours, masters and doctoral researchers.

Tikanga Māori, she says, has taught her the importance of reciprocity and collective strength. At its best, the surgical profession is built on those same principles, she adds.

“What I love most about supporting our teina [younger generation] coming through is knowing that the culture we cultivate in the early years of training will shape the profession for generations. We’re not going to pass on great culture to the next generation if we’re not embodying it.”

She says receiving the For Women in Science Fellowship will allow her to take on a part-time research assistant to support her in the competitive and demanding fields of surgical training and research, all while being mum, with her husband Dr Jason Tuhoe, to three daughters, aged 14, nine and seven.

Matire, who received the same fellowship in 2017, says she’s over the moon that Jamie Lee has received the award, which will help her continue to create improved medical outcomes for Māori.
“She’s an amazing researcher and clinician who always gives to her community,” says Matire, “as well as being an amazing mum and partner.”

And it’s those latter roles, Jamie-Lee notes, which have kept her grounded and balanced throughout her career so far – and will continue to be her priority.

“My whānau will always come first,” she says. “I am genuinely passionate about surgery and the privilege of serving my patients as an aspiring surgeon, but the true legacy I leave will be through my whānau.”

Caitlin Sykes