Dr Rona Macniven

Dr Rona Macniven specialises in physical activity, sport, falls prevention, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and public health research and is a part-time Research Fellow in the School of Population Health at UNSW Sydney. She commenced a Heart Foundation Early Career Fellowship in July 2021. Her research examines physical health and social and emotional wellbeing and the impact of physical activity and sport across the lifespan, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Rona co-ordinates research on the Ironbark project, a multi-site, multi-institutional trial to prevent falls among Aboriginal adults age 45 years and above in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. She also leads other epidemiological and community evaluation research studies in collaboration with multiple academic institutions and community groups, including Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. She has undertaken consultancy work and secondment placements within large Australian NGOs to translate research into practice and holds an honorary appointment at the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at The University of Sydney.