Associate Professor Natalie Taylor, a health psychologist and implementation scientist, is joining UNSW School of Population Health as Scientia Associate Professor in Implementation Science and Health Systems.
Associate Professor Taylor joins the School from the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council New South Wales and the University of Sydney, where she has been leading a behavioural and implementation research program since 2017.
“We are delighted to welcome Associate Professor Taylor whose extensive expertise in health systems and health behaviours research will play a major role in shaping and growing the future direction of the School’s research and teaching programs,” said Professor Rebecca Ivers, Head of UNSW School of Population Health.
Associate Professor Taylor’s program of research focuses on using behaviour change theory and implementation science to enhance health behaviours, improve healthcare quality and safety, and testing the cost-effectiveness of implementation interventions.
In joining the School, Associate Professor Taylor says she is looking forward to the opportunity to share her expertise across a wide network of students and expand the application of implementation science through research across broad range of health issues and conditions.
“I am passionate about identifying the best ways to ensure the new knowledge and approaches generated from scientific research reach those who need it most – the patients,” said Associate Professor Taylor.
Prior to joining the School, Associate Professor Taylor has been working with colleagues at UNSW on a range of projects focused on childhood cancer. Her program of research in the School will focus on using implementation research methods to design and study approaches for optimising the translation of innovations and interventions into the healthcare system. She will also teach implementation science in postgraduate and short courses.
“As an implementation scientist, I can develop, apply, and advance methodologies to support and study optimal ways to translate evidence into practice; through my new role with the School, sharing these approaches with students will serve to build more capacity for effective and efficient evidence translation in health,” said Associate Professor Taylor.
“I am excited to develop one of the few postgraduate Implementation Science courses currently offered by Australian universities, equipping students with the skills to both effectively translate evidence into practice, and advance the science of implementation through new and innovative research projects,” she said.
Associate Professor Taylor is pioneering the combination of implementation research with statistical modelling and health economics to test the cost-effectiveness of implementation interventions, as well as exploring ways to identify the active ingredients behind implementation success. She also leads the development and delivery of international behaviour change workshops and toolkits for healthcare professionals to facilitate and test the impact of the transfer of research evidence into practice.
“I am especially looking forward to developing strong links and clear pathways with health systems to facilitate opportunities for integrated and rapid translational research, innovation, and education,” said Associate Professor Taylor.
Associate Professor Taylor won the Australian Institute of Health Innovation Researcher of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016, and the CINSW Premier’s Award for Translational Cancer Research in 2016.
Contact Name :
UNSW School of Population Health