The Lead Clinical advisor for Maaori Health at Counties Manukau Health had put the final touches on his PhD in Medical Education and helped to launch Ko Awatea’s Health Equity Campaign. Almost the next day, he jumped on a plane bound for the USA, having closed off several enormous projects to embark on a fresh and equally enormous adventure.

As a Fulbright and Frank Knox Scholar, Dr Lyndon travelled to Boston to complete a Master’s Degree in Public Health at the prestigious Harvard University. He lived and studied in Boston for a year, absorbing its culture and trading health system stories with other international students.

Back in New Zealand now and juggling his role at CM Health with a lecturing position at the University of Auckland and a hosting role for an upcoming TVNZ health programme, The Checkup, Dr Lyndon says the year-long experience was invaluable for the connections and ideas he was exposed to. Among the many things that interested him during his studies was the use of Big Data to improve health outcomes.

Dr Lyndon says there is a great deal of potential for CM Health to mine existing information with a lens to improving practice and he is keen to see this develop.