Heather is a trained nurse working in the field of child and family health, and has taught at a tertiary level in health services, as well as working as a manager with a Māori Development Organisation and in primary health care.
She has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health at Otago University, a Masters in Public Health from the same university and a PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship with Te Pūmanawa Hauora, the Research Centre for Māori Health and Development, Massey University.
In collaboration with Ngāti Hauiti, Heather established Whakauae Research for Māori Health and Development, an iwi based research centre and from 2005 - 2016 she held the role of Research Centre Director.
In 2016 Heather assumed a senior advisory role and since then her research interests have concentrated on health service delivery and intervention, and the development of whānau, hapū and iwi based models to address Māori health issues, in particular tobacco control research with a focus on prevention and policy work.