Phil Silva

Philip Anthony Silva (22 August 1940 – 12 June 2025) was a New Zealand psychologist, educator and researcher. He was the founder and director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (known as the Dunedin Study) from 1972 to 1999.

Early life and career Phil Silva was born in Cromwell, New Zealand to Herbert Frederick Silva, a metallurgist, and Ella Theodore Angermunde, a shop assistant. He was the second eldest of eight siblings. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School, and went on to study at the Dunedin Teachers' College.

Silva worked as a primary school teacher for eight years, and earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Otago in 1968. He spent five years as a psychologist, and in 1971 began working with Patricia Buckfield in the University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine's Department of Paediatrics on a small study (225 subjects) of child development. and his founding in 1972 of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a long-term research investigation of human health, development and behaviour. Silva served as its study's director until his retirement in 1999.

Significance and impact Under Silva's direction, the Dunedin Study evolved into one of the most comprehensive investigations of human health and development ever conducted.

Personal life and death Silva had six children with his first wife, the late Wendy Crane. His son Tim Silva

Silva later moved to Christchurch,

In 2016, the Dunedin Study was awarded the Prime Minister's Science Prize, and in 2022 it was awarded the Rutherford Medal of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Research and publications Silva authored and co-authored numerous publications based on the Dunedin Study. His most cited works include "From Child to Adult: The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study" (1996), which he co-edited with W.R. Stanton; "A longitudinal study of children with developmental language delay at age three: later intelligence, reading and behaviour problems" (1987); "The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study: A 15 year longitudinal study" (1990); co-authored with T.E. Moffitt, A. Caspi, and M. Rutter.

Silva served on the board of the Hearing Health Foundation for over 50 years. As a professor at Auckland University of Technology, he helped establish the Pacific Island Families Study.

Legacy Silva's legacy endures through the Dunedin Study, which he conceived and nurtured through its critical early decades. He has described the study as "a gift to the world".

Research from the study has produced over 1,300 publications and reports, many of which have influenced policy and practice in health, education, criminal justice, and social services.

Silva's vision of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to studying human development established a model for longitudinal research that has been emulated worldwide. His commitment to treating participants with respect and dignity created a strong foundation of trust that enabled the study to maintain a high retention rate over five decades. The ongoing research continues to provide insights into how early life experiences influence health and wellbeing in later life.