The University of Western Australia

Assoc/Prof Lisa Wood

Research Associate Professor/Deputy Director, Centre for the Built Environment and Health
School of Population Health

Contact details

Address

School of Population Health
The University of Western Australia (M431)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

6488 7809

Fax

6488 1100

Email

lisa.wood@uwa.edu.au

Qualifications

BCom PhD W.Aust.

Biography

Currently funded by a senior Healthway research fellowship grant and am the Deputy Director for the Centre for the Built Environment and Health. I completed my PhD in 2006, with a thesis that examined the relationship between neighbourhood environments, social capital and health. Complementing my academic research is considerable experience in health promotion practice and policy.

Key research

Of particular interest in my research is the way in which the physical environment and built form (e.g. street design, accessibility of parks and open space, presence of graffiti and incivilities, places to walk to) can influence the social realm of a community, with consequential effects on a range of psychosocial outcomes including mental health, social isolation and social support. My current research interests are somewhat diverse, and include social capital and sense of community; built environment and health; social determinants of health; health inequalities; tobacco; Aboriginal health; pets as a facilitator of social capital; loneliness and social connectedness in children; parks and playgrounds; and the translation of research into policy and practice. I While this may appear an eclectic mix of research interests, there are some common underlying themes relating to reducing barriers to health (be they social,environmental or behavioural), targeting priority populations or settings, and bridging the divide between research, policy and practice. I am a strong advocate for mixed methods research, with a growing focus on qualitative research.

Roles, responsibilities and expertise

Deputy Director, Centre for the Built Enviroment and Health and Senior Research Fellow (Healthway)
Research grants
Supervision of PhD and honours students

Funding received

Healthway grants, Chief Investigator - 7 to date
UWA Research Development Award - 1

Honours and awards

Second most outstanding publication in the Humanities and Social Sciences category. Awards for Higher Degree by Research Achievements. 2006

PHAA (WA) Postgraduate Student Award for 2006.

Mandurah Symposium Student Prize for best post-graduate paper, Addictions 1994

John Storey Memorial Prize for best student in Economics and Commerce Honours, 1987

Current external positions

This includes representation on the Board of
the Heart Foundation (WA), and membership of external committees relating to arts and health, domestic violence prevention and mental health promotion.

Research profile

Research profile and publications