Our cross-domain themes represent major strategic priorities that cut across all our core research areas. They are designed to build capacity and, strengthen collaboration among our researchers and foster partnerships across Deakin, driving high-impact solutions.
Implementation science and translation
Theme leader: Associate Professor Harriet Koorts
The global challenge of translating research evidence into real-world action has never been more critical. This theme focuses on overcoming the barriers that prevent effective implementation of health interventions (policies and programs) across all disciplines and sectors, ensuring our evidence leads to equitable, sustainable health promotion and minimises “research waste” in public health.
We focus on:
- Increasing the use and uptake of research in practice.
- Building capacity in implementation science through targeted training, workshops and consultation.
- Establishing a national and international reputation in the field of physical activity and nutrition implementation research.
Sustainability
Theme leaders: Professor Mark Lawrence, Associate Professor Shannon Sahlqvist
Sustainability is a key consideration across our research. Food and active living systems that promote healthy eating and active travel have clear benefits for personal, population and planetary health.
Researchers in this theme collaborate to address critical environmental sustainability challenges by:
- Collecting evidence on associations between food systems, dietary patterns, and physical activity and population and planetary health outcomes,
- Synthesising evidence on the links between food systems and physical activity and health and sustainability outcomes,
- Devising, monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies, regulations and interventions across food, transport and built environment systems that aim to support and encourage sustainable and healthy living.
Digital technologies
Theme leader: Professor Ralph Maddison
Our research leverages technology to improve physical activity, nutrition and health across the entire lifespan, for all populations.
Digital technologies improve the reach and sustainability of health behaviour interventions by mitigating many of the barriers associated with analogue programs.
Our work involves:
- Digital methods for collecting and processing information about physical activity and nutrition behaviours as well as other heath parameters.
- Creating digital technology-enabled health interventions that help people to be less sedentary, more active and eat more healthily.
- Using human-centred design and tailored content to optimise digital health intervention engagement.
- Robust evaluation of digital health intervention usability, acceptability, engagement, and efficacy.
The Deakin Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition works closely with technical experts at Deakin, including the Deakin Applied Artificial Intelligence Initiative, the Deakin Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation and the School of Information Technology, as well as external partners, to deliver world-class digital health research.
Work with us
Work with leading researchers in active living, sport, food and nutrition. We partner with government, industry and community to make a meaningful impact.
