ASBHM 2026
Annual Scientific Conference
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Wednesday 11th February – Friday 13th February 2026
KEY DATES
Registration is now closed!
About ASBHM2026
The aim of The Australasian Society for Behavioural Health and Medicine (ASBHM) 2026 conference is to expand understanding of health psychology and behavioural medicine through innovative and translational research. Our high-quality annual meetings attract a diverse range of audience members and speakers from around Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. Speakers address delegates with topics and vision related to their unique expertise and experience in the behavioural medicine field.
ASBHM2026 will be an in-person conference. In-person attendance, presentations and networking events will all take place at the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Take a look at the About the Venue page for details on the venue and accommodation specials, and the About Auckland page for more information on things to do in Auckland and the North Island of New Zealand. Start planning your trip now!
Keynote Speakers
Professor Virginia Braun
Virginia Braun (Ginny; she/her they/them) is a Professor in the School of Psychology at Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland. A feminist and critical health psychologist, Ginny teaches and researches gender, sex/uality and health related topics, but is most known for the development of an approach to thematic analysis (with AP Victoria Clarke, and others), and for qualitative methodological writing more broadly.
Award winning books with Victoria Clarke are Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners (Sage, 2013) and Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (Sage, 2022). They also edited (with Debra Gray) Collecting Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide to Textual, Media and Virtual Techniques (Cambridge, 2017) and have websites on thematic analysis (www.thematicanalysis.net) and story completion (www.storycompletion.net).
Keynote Title: Quality thematic analysis for health (psychology) research: obstacles, options, and opportunities
Professor Lisa Te Morenga
Professor Lisa Te Morenga (Ngati Whātua Orakei, Ngāpuhi, Te Uri o Hau, Te Rarawa) is a nutrition and Māori health researcher with the Centre for Public Health Research at Massey University Wellington and co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa. Her research focuses on public health interventions that enable all people in Aotearoa to live well and in health-promoting environments. Lisa is a fierce advocate for the Ka Ora Ka Ako Healthy School lunch programme because of its power to shift the inequities in health and education experienced by our most disadvantaged tamariki.
Keynote Title: The transformative potential of taxpayer funded healthy school lunches
Emerging Keynote Speaker
Dr Olga Perski
Dr Olga Perski is a Researcher and Group Lead in the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University, Sweden. Funded by the European Research Council, her research focuses on the development, optimisation and evaluation of personalised digital interventions to support individuals with addictive behaviours, including “just-in-time adaptive interventions”. Her work leverages high-resolution measurements in people’s daily lives (e.g., Ecological Momentary Assessments, wearable sensors) and formal and computational modelling to better understand dynamic within-person processes which facilitate or hinder health behaviour change.
Keynote Title: Beyond the Therapist’s Couch: Towards Person-Specific and Adaptive Behaviour Change Interventions that Fit in Your Pocket