Professor Max Abbott

Professor Max Abbott is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences at Auckland University of Technology where he is also Professor of Psychology and Public Health and Co-Director of the National Institute for Public Health and Mental Health Research. He directs the Institute's Centre Gambling and Addictions Research. He is Deputy Chair of Waitemata District Health Board and a board member of Health Workforce New Zealand. He was previously National Director of the Mental Health Foundation (1981-1991) and President of the World Federation for Mental Health (1991-1993). He has over 200 publications, mainly in the fields of mental and public health including migrant and refugee studies.

He has researched gambling extensively, conducting the first problem gambling prevalence study worldwide. Since then, he has been principal or co-investigator on numerous research projects, including gambling and problem gambling, migrant mental health and Pacific Islander child/family health and development. He chairs the International Think Tank on Gambling Research, Policy & Practice which has met annually for the past eight years, providing a forum for researchers and other key stakeholders from throughout the world to discuss major and emergent issues. He is currently involved in ongoing gambling research programmes in New Zealand, Sweden, Australia and Canada.

Contact Information:
Email: mabbott@aut.ac.nz
Tel: 64 9 921 9999 ext 7131