Associate Professor Phillip Wilcox

University of Otago, New Zealand

Associate Professor Phillip Wilcox’s Māori tribal affiliations are Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, and Rongomaiwahine. He is based in the University of Otago’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, with experience in applied genomics and statistical genetics, as well as engagement with indigenous communities regarding gene technologies. He is also an Affiliate of the University of Otago’s Bioethics Centre, and is the current convenor of MapNet, a NZ-wide collective of gene mapping scientists, and led the Virtual Institute for Statistical Genetics from 2008 to 2013. For over 20 years he has worked in the interface of genetic sciences and Te Ao Māori, and co-leads two genomics-based projects focussing on Māori health. He also spent almost 10 years as advisor to his tribe, Ngāti Rakaipaaka, regarding the Rakaipaaka Health and Ancestry Study. Dr Wilcox  has also worked on genetics of plant species (particularly forest trees) and human diseases. He teaches Māori ethics-based frameworks in science courses at both graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as statistics and quantitative genetics, and teaches genetics-related content to Māori high school students in Māori learning environments in the University of Otago’s Science Wānanga initiative. He also co-initiated SING-Aotearoa, and was a member of the Health Research Council of New Zealand’s Ethics Committee which oversees New Zealand’s institutional and regional ethics committees. 



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