Moira is a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director, Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit in the Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington, and Associate Member, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago. She has a background in clinical dentistry, and since 2010 has undertaken research in a range of areas of public health concern, including oral health services.

Moira has a particular interest in generating evidence to inform policy and practice to improve older people's access to oral health care and their oral health. Moira led the dental team, was the gold standard examiner and lead report writer on the 2012 NZ Older People's Oral Health Survey commissioned by the Ministry of Health, only one of two such surveys conducted globally. Most recently, she led the oral health component of the National Science Challenge Ageing Well AWESSoM Programme and a project working with a national community health care provider to incorporate oral health into their care processes. Moira currently chairs the NZ Oral Health Clinical Advisory Network and is an Associate Editor, Gerodontology.