Lay summary
As a New Zealand citizen who trained as a public health doctor and served as the Fiji-based Research Manager of the Traffic Related Injury in the Pacific project (2004-2009), my career aspiration is to provide evidence-based guidance to clinicians and policymakers serving Pacific communities to reduce the burden of injury and provide affordable care for injured people enabling their optimal recovery. Collaborating with research partners in New Zealand and Fiji, my PhD involves: (1) a prospective cohort study examining long-term disability among road crash survivors; (b) a comprehensive cost of injury study; and (c) integrating policy relevant road injury indicators to health information systems so injury control across the continuum of care can be monitored and evaluated. Given the highly mobile Pacific populations and socio-cultural context, the findings are expected to provide insights that promote best practice when serving Pacific communities in New Zealand and the region more generally.