Lesley Margaret Elizabeth McCowan CNZM is a New Zealand medical researcher and academic specialising in maternal health.

[1] McCowan holds a PhD from the University of Auckland for her 1999 thesis titled "Doppler studies in small for gestational age pregnancies and the influence of perinatal variables on postnatal outcomes".

[13] In the 2011 New Year Honours, McCowan was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to health.

[14] In the 2016 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to health.

[15][16][17] She was awarded the Health Research Council of New Zealand's Beaven Medal in recognition of her and her team's finding that stillbirths were more likely in women who slept on their backs.