I am an Australian doctor and public health academic, currently based at the Institute of Global Health, University College London (UCL), where I am a Lecturer in Global Health. I spend time thinking critically about gender, health systems, and transformative, trans-disciplinary and transnational approaches to global health, with a strong focus on systems thinking, human-centred design, and participatory research.
As a medic I have worked in various settings, including remote indigenous Australia, post-Tsunami Sri Lanka, the Peruvian Amazon, and rural Kenya. I have overseen community-led research and interventions for cervical cancer, violence, and non-communicable disease prevention in Australia, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone and South Africa.
My current research initiative, Stema (www.stema.org), focuses on better articulating informal systems of community health and wellbeing, and, through these insights, is developing a framework and tool(s) that enable communities to best mobilise local resources, transform existing resources, and/or adapt external resources to improve their health and wellbeing. We take a systems and design thinking approach to address broader (eco)systems failures in achieving human health and wellbeing in low resource settings worldwide. Through a deep understanding of local contexts and insights into informal community systems that operate to support and promote human health, we are able to better understand how communities use local resources, and how orchestration of community resources can help health interventions be more effective and more sustainable. This radically transforms both how we think about health challenges and how we approach solving those challenges.
Through my work, I have participated in a number of high-impact international initiatives such as the Lancet theme issue on Women in Science, Medicine, and Global health, the All Stars in Global Health panel with Grand Challenges Canada, the Wellcome Trust Culture and Cause initiative, and the Hamwe Festival in Rwanda. I have also developed a portfolio of experience in international health policy, having collaborated ith the World Health Organisation and the Global Health 5050 Initiative. These opportunities have allowed me to translate academic insights to effect high-level change alongside colleagues and stakeholders internationally.
Experience
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2016–presentCo-Founder, Global Health Disrupted
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2016–presentResearch Fellow, UCL Centre for Global Health Economics
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2017–presentResearch Fellow, UCL Centre for Gender and Global Health
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2014–presentMedical Director, DB Peru
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2020–presentLecturer, UCL Institute for Global Health
Education
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2018University College London, Doctor of Philosophy in Global Health
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2011University of Cambridge, Master of Philosophy, Public Health
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2011University of Geneva, Advanced Certificate in Health and Human Rights
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2010Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Diploma of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
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2008University of Newcastle, Australia, Bachelor of Medicine
Grants and Contracts
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2017GBV prevention in the Amazon of Peru (GAP) Project
- Role:
- Co-Investigator
- Funding Source:
- Sexual Violence Research Initiative and World Bank
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2015Amazon Community-based Cervical Cancer Screen and Treat Programme
- Role:
- Medical Director
- Funding Source:
- Dining for Women
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2013Overseas Research Scholarship
- Role:
- Recipient
- Funding Source:
- University College London
Honours
Young Australian of the Year in the United Kingdom, 2018
