David R. Murdoch (born 10 July 1962) is a New Zealand academic specialising in paediatric infectious diseases, especially pneumonia.
He has also worked on Legionnaires' disease and has advised the Oxford University vaccine group and the New Zealand government on COVID-19.
[3] Murdoch became interested in childhood infectious diseases after a trip to Nepal, working in one of Sir Edmund Hillary's mountain hospitals, where he saw the effects of measles on the local population.
Murdoch is co-director of the One Health Aotearoa research alliance, which is a group of infectious disease experts from the University of Otago's medical school, Massey University's veterinary school and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), who are working together to address health hazards across the human, animal and environmental interfaces.
[2] Murdoch began his tenure in February 2022 and announced that "creating change" would be his "highest priority" following a review into allegations of racism at the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences.