Howden-Chapman studied at the University of Auckland and was awarded a PhD in 1987. Her doctoral thesis was titled An evaluation of three treatment programmes for alcoholism: an experimental study with six- and eighteen-month follow-ups.[7]
Howden-Chapman started her career in secondary-school teaching, before moving to clinical psychology, and then public health.
She has conducted a number of high-profile randomised control trials into various aspects of housing and health, in the process helping to build the evidence base for the later New Zealand-wide insulation programme. Howden-Chapman's Healthy Housing group conducted an analysis of the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart programme which showed that overall it "will have a net benefit of $951 million dollars, and a highly favourable benefit cost ratio of 3.9:1."[8]
Howden-Chapman was a member of the 2012 Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, which outlined a number of policy recommendations to tackle child poverty in New Zealand.[9]
In December 2014, Howden-Chapman and her research programme were awarded the $500,000 Prime Minister's Science Prize. She was the first woman and the first social scientist to win the prize.[4][10]
Howden-Chapman is the chair of the WHO Housing and Health Guideline Development Group.[6] She is also director of He Kāinga Orana, the Housing and Health Research Programme examining the link between housing quality and health, based in the University of Otago, New Zealand.[11] With a strong interest in reducing inequalities in the determinants of health, Howden-Chapman's research aims to identify and evaluate housing-related interventions to improve individual, family and community health.[11] Her research has had a major influence on housing, health and energy policy in New Zealand.[6]
In 2017, Howden was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[15]
Howden-Chapman was named the Supreme Winner of NEXT Woman of the Year 2018 for her advocacy for healthy, warm and dry homes in New Zealand.[16]
In October 2019, Howden-Chapman was appointed one of seven inaugural sesquicentennial distinguished chairs, or poutoko taiea, at Otago University.[17]
Howden-Chapman, P. & Penelope Carroll (eds.) (2004). Housing and Health. Steele Roberts. ISBN1-877338-17-6
Howden-Chapman, P., Stuart, K. & Chapman, R. (eds.) (2010). Sizing up the City: Urban Form and Transport in New Zealand. Steele Roberts. ISBN9781877448904
Bierre, S., Philippa Howden-Chapman & Lisa Early (eds.) (2013). Homes People Can Afford: How to Improve Housing in New Zealand. Steele Roberts. ISBN978-1-927242-25-4
Howden-Chapman, P. (2015). Home truths: Confronting New Zealand's housing crisis. Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams Books, 116p. doi: 10.7810/9780947492335
Howden-Chapman, P. & Chapman, R. Risk, uncertainty and post-normal science: towards better policy. New Zealand Science Review, 1998, 55, 1-2, 11-19.
