Dr Theresa Caruana

Theresa Caruana is a Research Associate/Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Social Research in Health. Her research approach is informed by a history of working with populations experiencing disadvantage in a variety of direct practice, education, and project roles, along with a range of understandings from public health, critical and feminist theory, social work, and social psychology. Her current research involves exploring issues of stigma and discrimination and improving outcomes for socially marginalised groups, including people who use drugs, people experiencing poverty, and First Nations peoples. She routinely engages with organisations and advocates to design and promote research that services and communicates the priorities of the community groups they represent, in ways that uphold dignity, inclusiveness, and promote both lived experience and human rights perspectives. Skilled in quantitative and qualitative social research methods, her work focuses on translating individual and community perceptions and experiences into actionable strategies for improving social justice and health systems.