The School of Population Health (SPH) has quickly established itself as one of Asia Pacific’s leading public health research centres. A strong research culture that encourages and supports academic staff to perform at the highest levels has produced an excellent track record of publications in key journals and significant research grants. Several SPH staff members are global leaders in their fields.
The School includes 15 Centres/Units/Groups that cover most key substantive areas and disciplines in population health including epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioural science, sociology and anthropology, health economics, health policy, physical activity, nutrition and mental health. In addition, SPH has identified five broad research priorities that reflect staff interests, strategic research opportunities and established strengths:
- Behaviour and health outcomes: including addressing the social and environmental conditions that underlie risks to health in populations and communities
- Biostatistics and epidemiology: including the methodology of population-based longitudinal studies; epidemiological modelling of chronic diseases; clinical trials in hospitals and communities
- Social and structural determinants of health: including quantitative and qualitative research on the determinants of physical and mental health in disadvantaged and marginalised groups
- Global and international health: including burden of disease and cost-effectiveness studies, disease epidemiology and control, field trials of interventions and health policy analysis
- Health systems: including health care evaluation, evidence-based health care, health systems policy and health systems performance
The School continually monitors its research programs to ensure they meet both established and newer public health concerns. Emerging areas of research interest at SPH include health services; addiction; tropical health; and the nutrition transition.
The School’s research programs are funded by grants from many sources including the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Research Council (ARC), the Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Examples of current major grants include:
- The Global Burden of Disease 2007 Project (collaboration with Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities and WHO) (Gates Foundation), Lopez, A., Vos, T.
- Developing the evidence base for health policy in Vietnam (Atlantic Philanthropies), Hill, P., Lopez, A., Rao, C., Vos, T., Doran, C., Lim, S. and partners in Vietnam
- The Population Health Metrics Research Consortium Project (collaboration with Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities) (Gates Grand Challenge in Health, #13), Lopez, A., Rao, C.
- Building Capacity in Health Economic Evaluation, (NHMRC), Doran,C., Carter, R., Richardson, J., Barendregt, J., Lim, S., Coelli, T., Evans, D., Vos, T.
- Men, Women and Ageing: Predictors of ageing well in the ALWSH and the Perth Health in Men Study (NHMRC/ARC Strategic Awards – Ageing well, Ageing Productivity), Dobson, A., Jamrozik J., Norman, Almeida, Flicker, Brown, Pachana, N., Hankey, G
- Understanding and influencing physical activity to improve population health (NHMRC Program Grant), Owen, N, Bauman, A., Brown., W
- Burden of disease and cost-effectiveness of intervention options: Informing policy decisions and health system reform in Thailand (NHMRC/Wellcome Trust International Collaborative Research Grant), Lopez, A., Phoolcharoen, W., Vos, T., Porapakkham, Y., Richardson, J., Punyaratabandhu, P.
- Guiding intervention choices to reduce health costs, health inequalities and improve the health of Australians: avoidable diseases burden and cost-effectiveness of prevention (NHMRC Health Services Research Grant), Vos, T., Carter, R., Lopez, A., Doran, C., Wilson, A., Anderson, I.
- Monitoring the health and well-being of ex-prisoners in Australia - A longitudinal data linkage study (NHMRC Preventive Healthcare and Strengthening Australia’s Social and Economic Fabric Strategic Award), Kinner, S., Lennox, N., Alati, R., Boyle, F., Jamrozik, K., Vlack, S., Haswell-Ekins, M., Taylor, D., Williams, G.
