Deputy Chief Medical Officer Māori | Te Pātaka Whaioranga – Pharmac

Deputy Clinical Director Māori | Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau Mental Health and Addiction services

Professional Teaching Fellow | Dept of Psychological Medicine | University of Auckland

Trustee | Oakley Mental Health Research Foundation

Content Creator | Māori Minds

Ko Tūhoe raua ko Ngāti awa ngā iwi.
No Rūatoki me Te Teko ōku tīpuna.
Kei te noho au ki Tāmaki Makaurau.
Ko Kiri Prentice Taku ingoa.
He tākuta hinengaro ahau.

Kiri’s career in psychiatry has seen her work across various mental health services in Auckland and Waitematā districts since 2009. For four years, Kiri worked as a consultant psychiatrist with Whitiki Maurea Māori Mental Health and Addictions Services in Te Whatu Ora Waitematā.

Prior to this, Kiri was a psychiatrist with the North Adult Community Mental Services in Waitematā District Health Board (DHB).  In 2022, Kiri started a part-time position as Deputy Clinical Director of Māori for Mental Health and Addiction Services in Counties Manukau.

In February 2023, Kiri left Whitiki Maurea to begin a part-time position with Pharmac as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Māori.

Kiri was a member of the Expert Advisory Group advising on repealing and replacing the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment Act) 1992. In May 2023, Kiri was honoured by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists with the Pirika Taonga Award for her noteworthy contribution to Māori Mental Health and Addiction in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Kiri's interests are Te Taiao (nature), hauora Māori, mental health, Māori philosophy, education, and law. These feature prominently in her teaching with medical students, psychiatry registrars and other health professionals, and the educational videos that Kiri creates for her YouTube channel and website titled Māori Minds.

Kiri and her husband Johny have two naughty miniature dachshunds, Schnitzel and Noodle

BHB, MBChB, FRANZCP