Trecia Wouldes

Trecia Ann Wouldes (born 1946) is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland, specialising in the developmental effects of drug exposure in pregnancy.

Academic career
Wouldes completed an MA in psychology in 1991, and a PhD titled Methadone maintenance during pregnancy: the consequences of low-dose vs high-dose for the fetus, the neonate and the infant, both at the University of Auckland. Wouldes then joined the faculty of the university, rising to full professor in 2021.

Wouldes is a developmental scientist, and has researched the effect on infants of methamphetamine and methadone use during pregnancy. She is part of the IDEAL Study, a collaboration with researchers at Brown University and several other US universities to investigate the effects of P use on infant development, and since 2005 has been the study's director. She has also collaborated with researchers at Victoria University of Wellington and Ngāti Pāhauwera to investigate the treatment of methamphetamine dependence in Māori women.

Wouldes is involved in the Liggins Institute, where she was part of an award-winning team, led by Professor Jane Harding, investigating gestational diabetes and neonatal hypoglycaemia. Wouldes is also part of an international study to look at resilience in migrant youth.

As of 2024, Wouldes is Associate Dean of Equity for the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, and head of the Department of Psychological Medicine.