
BA Hons UNSW, PhD UNSW
Broad Research Fields: Health Ethics, Health Sociology, Sociology of Everyday Life, Social Dimensions of Medicine, Science and Technology, Cultural Studies.
Research Interests:
My research interests include the social and ethical dimensions of genetic testing, youth and alcohol, risk and harm minimisation, the sociology of health and illness, health and hygiene education, and illness narratives. I am currently involved in a project on alcohol consumption and harm minimisation practices among university students, focusing on students’ drinking and harm minimisation practices, and the role of higher education and government initiatives in encouraging self-regulation in relation to consumption. I am also investigating the discursive constructions of the mental health of transgender men and women by psychiatry, with a focus on the moral, ethical, biomedical, and legal discourses on gender reassignment. I am also involved in an investigation into the history of health and hygiene education in NSW public schools, examining the relationship between school medical inspections and family formation, the moral discourse on health and fitness, and the role of the state in the project of creating a healthy nation. I use qualitative methods with particular focus on health and illness.
In the School of Public Health and Community Medicine I teach clinical and public health ethics in a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Supervision
I have supervised a number of Honours, Master and PhD projects in the broad research areas of:
Students interested in discussing ethics, the use of qualitative methods, or drawing on any of the above-listed fields for their research are welcome to contact me.
Non-Academic Professional Roles
Occasional Member for NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), and Professional Standards Committee, Health Professionals Councils Authority NSW
Non-Academic Interests
Convener of the writing group, Storyism, at the NSW Writers’ Centre, Rozelle NSW
2017 Victoria Department of Health, Alcohol Culture Change Grants Initiative Corney, T., Leontini, R., Wright, C., Cronin, D. Engendering Positive Student Alcohol Cultures and Event Specific Drinking. (300,148) 2017-2019
2009 ARC Linkage Grant. Schofield, T., Lindsay, J., Giles, F., Hepworth, J., Germov, J., Leontini, R., Alcohol Use and Harm Minimisation Among Australian University Students, ($622,853) 2010-2015
2010 International Program Development Fund & Faculty of Arts. University of Sydney. Giles, F., Leontini, R., Goodwin, N., International leadership in social marketing, alcohol use and young people: Australia, China, the US and the UK ($10,000) 2011-2012
Research Dissemination: Conferences and other Presentations
Leontini, R. Health ethics in higher education online learning: strengths, limitations, opportunities. The Future of Education Conference 7th Edition, June 8-9, 2017, Florence Italy
Leontini, R. Invited Speaker: research presentation and panel speaker. Alcohol Use and Harm Minimisation among Australian University Students. At the Collegiate Communities – Global Contexts Conference, The 2nd Collegiate Way International Conference, Australian National University, Canberra. 13-17 November 2016.
Leontini, R. Invited Speaker. Genetic Testing: Social and Ethical Considerations, presented at the 25th Annual Healthcare Symposium of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Genomics in Health and Disease, 12-16 September 2016, Brisbane, Australia
Proctor, H., Leontini, R., Burns, K., 2014. Schools, public health and the making of the Australian family in the twentieth century, 1900s-1940s. Gender and Education in the Asia-Pacific: Possibilities and Provocations, Melbourne, 9-11 December 2014
Leontini, R. 2014.Invited Speaker. Alcohol consumption among students in university residential colleges: examining the new ‘student experience’, Governance and Headship: Roles, Risks and Responsibilities in Residential Leadership, 2014 StarRez UCA Conference, Adelaide, 3 October 2014
Leontini, R. 2013. ‘Inside(rs) and Outside(rs): Perceptions of ‘Safe’ and ‘Unsafe’ Drinking Among University College Residents’. TASA, Monash University, 25-28 November 2013
Leontini, R. 2012. ‘Inside(rs) and Outside(rs):Perceptions of ‘Safe’ and ‘Unsafe Drinking Among University College Residents’. International Symposium on Critical Approaches to Young People’s Use of Alcohol. University of Queensland, 24 August 2012
Hepworth, J., Schofield, T., Lindsay, J., Giles, F., Germov, J. & Leontini, R. 2012, The Social and Cultural Organisation of Drinking Alcohol by University Students in Australia, Australasian Society of Behavioural Health and Medicine, Melbourne 8-10 February 2012.
Leontini, R., Giles, F., Schofield, T., Brown, R., Lindsay, J., Hepworth, J., Germov, J. (2011), Alcohol Use and Harm Minimisation Among University Students: Report on Interview Study Preliminary Findings, AHMS Project Meeting, Sancta Sophia College, University of Sydney 31 October 2011
Schofield, T., Hepworth, J., Lindsay, J., Giles, F., Leontini, R., Germov, J. 2011. Alcohol use and harm minimisation among Australian university students – the AHMS Project. Paper presented in the Symposium Critical Perspectives on Young People and Alcohol, at the 7th Biennial Conference of the International Society of Critical Health Psychology, 18-20 April 2011, Adelaide.
Schofield, T. , Brown, R., Lindsay, J., Giles, F., Hepworth, J., Germov, J., Leontini, R. 2011, Alcohol Use and Harm Minimisation Among University Students: University College Policy and Management, Draft paper, AHMS Project Meeting, Sancta Sophia College, University of Sydney, 31 October 2011.
Schofield, T. , Brown, R., Lindsay, J., Giles, F., Hepworth, J., Germov, J., Leontini, R. 2011, Alcohol Use and Harm Minimisation Among University Students: University College Policy and Management, Local Lives/Global Networks, Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association, University of Newcastle, 28 November – 1 December 2011.
Germov, J., McGee, T.R., Schofield, T., Hepworth, J., Lindsay, J., Giles, F., Leontini, R. 2011, Alcohol Consumption and Harm Minimisation Practices Amongst Australian University Students. Local Lives/Global Networks, Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association, University of Newcastle, 28 November – 1 December 2011.
McGee, T.R., Germov, J., Schofield, T., Hepworth, J., Lindsay, J., Giles, F. & Leontini, R. 2011, Alcohol Risks And Harms: An Analysis of University Students’ Engagement in Hazardous and Delinquent Behaviours and Experiences of Harm. Local Lives/Global Networks, Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) University of Newcastle, 28 November – 1 December 2011.
Leontini, R., Hereditary risk and narrative analysis: reflections on method. The VII ISA World Congress of Sociology, 11-17 July 2010, Gothenberg, Sweden
Leontini, R.,2006, Students in Allied Health Sciences May Very Well Also Become Life-Long Researchers. An Educator’s Reflections on Student Poster Presentations,Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australasia, Perth, July 2006
Leontini, R., 2005, Genetic Counselling as Care of the Self, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA), Hobart, December 6-8, 2005
Leontini, R., 2002. Invited Speaker. The dilemma of predictive testing and informed decision-making: looking beyond existing discourses and methods of investigation to help us understand this process.The Medico-Legal Society, in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. May 7 - 8, 2002
Leontini, R.,2001,Of Signs, Descriptions and Trailing Voices: the Huntington's disease narrative, The Australian Sociological Association, Sydney, December 13-15, 2001
Leontini, R.,2000, Predictive [Testing] and Informed[Choice/Decision]: how these terms shape the bioethics of health professionals, probands and persons at risk.Combined Conference of Australasian Bioethics Association (ABA) and the Australian Institute of Health, Law and Ethics (AIHLE), July 5-9, 2000
Leontini, R.2000.Predictive [Testing] and Informed[Choice/Decision]: how these terms shape the bioethics of health professionals, probands and persons at risk. Science, Technology and Cultural Studies Symposium, University of Melbourne,July 13-14, 2000
Content specialist contributions to:
Berglund, C. (2012). Ethics for Health Care (4th Ed), Australia: Oxford University Press
Australian Law Reform Commission. Gene Patenting and Human Health. Discussion Paper 68, contribution on behalf of the Australian Huntington Disease Association (NSW) (2003).
Committees and Administrative Functions
Memberships
University Colleges Australia (UCA) Alcohol Harm Minimisation Steering Committee
Phase 2 Committee, Medical Programme, UNSW Medicine
Phase 2 Examinations Sub-Committee, Medical Programme, UNSW Medicine
Australasian Association of Bioethics & Health Law
The Australasian Sociological Association