
Professor Christy Newman
Christy E. Newman (they/them) is a Professor at the Centre for Social Research in Health, and Deputy Dean Research for the faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture.
They are a qualitative sociologist with more than two decades of experience in collaborative, community-partnered social research on health, gender, and sexuality, with a particular focus on sexual and reproductive health, and inclusive approaches to health system reform.
They are also a passionate advocate for the contributions of the social sciences, humanities, creative and performing arts, design and built environment disciplines in creating sustained and impactful solutions to the many social, environmental, and geopolitical challenges we face today (see ADA Creating Impact).
Christy's research has been funded by >$18 million in grants from the Australian Research Council (Discovery and Linkage grants), National Health and Medical Research Council (MRFF, Project and Partnership grants), public sector and for-purpose health agencies.
Selected past projects and publications include:
- Elgar Encyclopaedia of Queer Studies
- Routledge Handbook of Sexuality, Gender, Health and Rights
- Social Perspectives on Trans Health
- Reimagining menopause: mobilising radical imaginaries across social, creative and clinical domains
- Gender diversity and social change: transgressions, translations, transformations
- my health, our family: documenting stories of family life in the context of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C (ARC DP160100134)
- Trans inclusive cervical cancer screening
- What we do well: strengths based research about Aboriginal young people's sexual wellbeing (ARC LP170100190)
- Dynamic Gender Project
- Queer families: valuing stories of diversity, adversity and belonging
- Trust in digital health among communities affected by BBVs and STIs in Australia
- Sustaining sexual and reproductive health through COVID-19 pandemic restrictions
- Queer generations: belonging and citizenship among gender and sexual minority youth (ARC DP150101292)
- StraightMSM study: heterosexually-identified men who have sex with men
- Managing HIV in general practice settings (NHMRC 1021790)
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2020 Research Supervisor Award, UNSW Arc Postgraduate Council
- 2017 Mid-Career Interdisciplinary Achiever Award, Australasian Sexual Health Alliance
- 2010 Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
- 1998 University Medal in Arts, Murdoch University
- Editorial Board, Culture, Health & Sexuality
- Editorial Board, Health Sociology Review
- Associate, Australian Human Rights Institute
- Member, NSW Health LGBTIQ+ Health Strategy Implementation Committee
- Member, TASA: The Australian Sociological Association
- Member, AusPATH: Australian Professional Association for Trans Health
My Research Supervision
- Clue Coman: Social imaginaries of queer justice
- Shannon Harvey: Disrupted bodies: Interrogating the gender binary in family violence policy and practice
- Bella Bushby: Assessing the sexual health and HIV needs of Bi+ people in Australia
- Ava del Tufo: The multifaceted health impacts of living in a rural community for transgender and gender diverse people
- Tierney Marey: Embodied equity: Equity labour in higher education
Doctoral graduates
- Dr Heather McCormack (2024): Optimising the MBS 715 Adult Health Check to improve sexual health testing in routine care for Aboriginal people in NSW
- Dr Catriona Ooi (2024): Services for men who have sex with men in western Sydney
- Dr Lisa Wojciechowski (2023) Young + Positive: Young people living with HIV in Australia
- Dr Anthony KJ Smith (2022) PrEP in Practice: a sociological study of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis prescribing
- Dr Giselle Newton (2022) Everyday belongings: Exploring Australian donor-conceived adults' social, linguistic and digital practices across private and public domains
- Dr Elena Cama (2022) Navigating safety and sexual harms in the context of dating and hookup platform use among adult Australians
- Dr Elan Lazuardi (2019) Navigating the social dynamics of HIV care: A qualitative study in urban Indonesia in the era of scaled-up testing and treatment
- Dr Jialing (Angela) Cui (2019) Understanding the empowerment of people with severe mental illness in the community through the eyes of social work practitioners in Sydney and Hong Kong
- Dr Jessica Botfield (2019) Engaging young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds with sexual and reproductive health care
- Dr Jamee Newland (2015) Safety in the silence: A qualitative social network analysis of hepatitis C risk and prevention in three networks of Australians who inject drugs
- Dr Denton Callander (2013) Just a Preference: Exploring concepts of race among gay men looking for sex or dates online
- Dr Dean Murphy (2013) ‘A child of one’s own’: enacting kinship among gay men pursuing parenthood through surrogacy
- Dr Rebecca Gray (2013) The dynamics of shame: navigating professional complexities when counselling in alcohol and other drug settings