Dr. Robyn May

Robyn is a researcher with a clinical background and a strong interest in how early life events and interventions shape long-term health outcomes. Her work integrates clinical research, computational modelling, and statistical analysis to better understand physiological development and its implications for health across the lifespan.

Robyn trained as a medical doctor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, where her area of interest was paediatrics, followed by a MPhil in Biomedical Ethics at Stellenbosch University. After relocating to New Zealand in 2017, she joined the Liggins at the University of Auckland—a leading maternal and perinatal health research centre—where she worked as a research manager and pursued further training in statistics at Massey University. Her PhD at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland combined her interests in mathematical modelling and clinical translation. She developed personalised computational models (“digital twins”) to investigate how preterm birth affects early cardiovascular development and how this may predispose those born preterm to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Following a postdoctoral position at the Liggins Institute with Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding, Robyn joined the Department of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine at the Centre for Digital Health and Preventive Medicine in September 2025. She continues to hold affiliations with the Liggins Institute as an Honorary Research Fellow and with Leipzig University Hospital as a Guest Researcher.