It's also highlighted the benefits of insulation and heating retrofits on health, and the team has partnered with local councils to introduce a rental warrant-of-fitness scheme to improve the quality of rental houses.
Howden-Chapman said she was "delighted and deeply honoured" to receive the accolade.
"Our multidisciplinary research team is committed to carrying out the highest quality research in partnership with communities to inform national and international housing policies. To receive this prestigious award is very humbling."
The research team is now working on two far-reaching research projects, looking at implementing new WHO standards, and mapping the effectiveness of different types of public and community housing providers in achieving key health goals.
The award follows the death of 2016 Rutherford medallist Emeritus Professor Michael Corballis, of the University of Auckland.
One of the world's best known and most respected cognitive scientists, Corballis published over 400 scientific articles, reviews, and book chapters as well as more than a dozen books.
His interests were wide-ranging, and he made important contributions across an impressively broad range of topics – brain asymmetry, handedness, the split-brain, language, evolution, mental imagery, mind-wandering, and mental-time travel - a term he coined with Thomas Suddendorf.
Other researchers honoured
Other scientists and researchers acknowledged among the society's honours this year include GNS Science marine geologist Professor Gary Wilson, awarded the Thomson Medal for leadership in developing New Zealand's international profile in Antarctic research.
The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) awarded the Te Tohu Rapuora Award to Dr Amohia Boulton of Whakauae Research Services, for work that's helped advance Māori health services in Aotearoa.
The HRC also presented its Beaven Medal to Professor Lesley McCowan and University of Auckland colleagues for research that identified that pregnant women who went to sleep lying on their backs had an increased risk of stillbirth after 28 weeks of pregnancy, and a public awareness campaign that followed.
Its Liley Medal went to Dr Sarah Jefferies and her ESR team for their landmark Lancet Public Health paper analysing the impact of New Zealand's response to the first wave of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
The society's Hector Medal was awarded to Victoria University's Professor Eric Le Ru, for his world-leading research in analytical chemistry using surface-enhanced spectroscopies, while the Hutton Medal went to AgResearch scientist Professor Rich McDowell for work on nutrient flows in soils and water, and informing farm management and environmental policy.
The Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award was presented to Victoria University's Imagining Decolonised Cities team, which has combined decolonial scholarship with urbanism practice, while Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora of the University of Auckland received the Te Rangi Hiroa Medal for transforming psychology for Māori.
Another psychologist, Professor Tony Ward of Victoria University, was presented the Mason Durie Medal for his original and influential work on treating violent individuals.
The University of Auckland's Professor Annie Goldson was awarded the Humanities Aronui Medal for her documentaries that have explored socio-political issues ranging from war and genocide, to sexuality and surveillance.
Emeritus Professor Harry Ricketts, of Victoria University – and one of the most prolific figures in New Zealand literature – was recognised with the Pou Aronui Award.
Professor Maggie-Lee Huckabee, from the University of Canterbury, received the MacDiarmid Medal for research to improve patient outcomes, decrease healthcare costs and create innovative technologies associated with swallowing impairment.
The Pickering Medal was awarded to Professor Keith Cameron and Professor Hong Di from Lincoln University for inventing new technology to treat dairy farm effluent to recycle water and reduce phosphate and E. coli leaching into water.
Dr Zhenan Jiang, of Victoria University, was presented with the Scott Medal for work measuring and modelling the response of superconductors to applied currents and magnetic fields, thereby enabling cost-effective superconducting machines.
The Cooper Award went to Dr Laura Revell, of the University of Canterbury, for her chemistry-climate interaction modelling work and pioneering research on understanding how microplastics might impact the Earth's climate.
Dr Kyle Clem, of Victoria University, was presented the Hamilton Award for his research on the warming of the remote interior of Antarctica, while the University of Canterbury's Dr Gilles Seropian received the Hatherton Award for providing a framework to understand why some volcanoes are more likely to erupt after an earthquake than others.
The Early Career Research Excellence Award for Humanities was presented to Associate Professor Elizabeth Macpherson, from the University of Canterbury, for her work on opportunities for Indigenous peoples' water rights in laws and policies around the world.
Victoria University's Dr Emily Beausoleil received the Early Career Research Excellence Award for Social Sciences for identifying key obstacles to listening by advantaged groups and creating effective anti-racism strategies.
The Early Career Te Kōpūnui Māori Research Award was presented to Dr Karen Brewer, from the University of Auckland, for a kaupapa Māori speech-language therapy resource for whānau with communication difficulties following stroke.
