The HIA Team

The HIA team in the Department of Health Social Science are focused on supporting municipal and state levels of government, industry and community to undertake HIA through high quality research, consultancy and training opportunities. We offer a diverse skill set to support professionals and organisations across a range of industry sectors to engage with HIA.

Dr Jessica McCormick, PhD, BAppSc(HlthSci) (Hons)

Jessica's program of research is primarily concerned with health impact assessment (HIA). The major focus of her work thus far has been on the application of HIA to regeneration schemes (in particular Neighbourhood Renewal in Victoria) and exploring its utility as a mechanism to engage communities in policy decision-making processes.

She is involved in ongoing research and training linked to the positioning of HIA at a range of levels of government and in developing, refining and applying these tools and was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the 2009 International HIA conference held in Liverpool.

Jessica's research interests include the links between health and community regeneration, issues related to HIA (e.g. gender, equity, power, engagement, intersectoral working) and the strategic role of HIA in government, business and HIA capacity building.

Professor Helen Keleher, PhD, MA, BA

Helen is a public health social scientist who is Head of the Department of Health Social Science. Her main research interests are in the social determinants of health and inequity, building capacity for public health, population health and health promotion in health services/systems and policy, and gender and women's health.

Helen's expertise are in equity focused public health and policy, and rigor in evidence collation, generation and knowledge synthesis. Her experience in the social determinants of health and inequity are critical to HIA thinking, particularly in the evidence about causal pathways and what areas are amenable to action.

 Helen also brings expertise in engendering of policy and programs, and provides critical input into what it might mean to engender HIA. She is an active contributor to discussions about the challenges involved for methodology in incorporating gender, equity and human rights in HIA and ways to take these forward and making the links to the democratic foundations of HIA.

 Dr Mary Mahoney  PhD, MSci, MED, BEd

Since 2000, Mary has made significant contributions to the field of HIA both internationally and in Australia. She led the development and introduction of policy-linked HIA at national, state and local government levels in Australia between 2000 and 2006. During this time, Mary secured federal funding for the development of equity-focused HIA and prepared the first international Equity-Focused HIA Guidelines in partnership with colleagues from Universities of NSW and Newcastle between 2001 and 2004.

The major focus of Mary's research has been on the role of HIA in policy both in Australia and overseas and she has and continues to serve on the Scientific Committee for the International HIA conferences held globally. Mary develops and contributes to training programs both in Australia and internationally, including the esteemed IMPACT HIA training course at Liverpool University. Mary has also hosted and facilitated conferences, workshops and training programmes on HIA and EFHIA at all levels of government in Australia, New Zealand, Turkey and England.

Mary Mahoney is currently working in Gloucestershire England as the Director of the NEXUS project, a joint initiative between the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England and Gloucestershire College focusing on urban regeneration and the role of higher education in supporting change within a community with high levels of disadvantage. Within the practicalities of Mary living overseas, she makes a significant contribution to all research and teaching activities of the Department of Health Social Science linked to HIA and will co-facilitate the HIA short course in July.