Rachel is currently Professor of Health Research with over 30 years of research experience in areas related to physical activity for the prevention of non-communicable diseases. Rachel has extensive experience of conducting large-scale trials in both clinical and community settings in the area of physical activity, health and disease prevention. More recently, Rachel has focused on the use and development of ecological models that emphasize multiple levels of influence on health behaviours. She has designed and led large-scale community interventions that have resulted in sustained behaviour change and improved health. Rachel has also led pioneering research that takes an ecological approach to sustaining and improving health. Her research takes an integrated urban ecosystem approach to evaluating the influences of the built, natural and social environments on health behaviours, health and health outcomes. 

Rachel has been awarded over $20 million of research funding over the past 10 years and has supervised over 20 PhD students to completion. 

Research Interests

Rachel's research interests focus on policy-relevant research in areas related to physical activity for health and wellbeing and on the design, delivery and evaluation of complex public health interventions. Rachel is currently undertaking research across a number of areas, including:

• Exploring the inter-relationship between individuals and neighbourhoods in social, cultural and physical (built and natural) environments and their impact on health and health outcomes
• Primary and secondary prevention programs for cardiovascular disease
• Evaluation of primary healthcare provision in the aged care sector
• Physical activity in school children

Member of Climate Change Adaptation Resilience and Recovery Network