
Associate Professor Kathleen Falster
PhD, MPH, BAppSc(Hons).
I am an epidemiologist leading research to inform and evaluate policy and service delivery initiatives to improve child population health. I also contribute to building population health workforce capacity by teaching epidemiological methods to postgraduate students.Â
I work closely with policy makers in the health, child protection, education and social sectors to design epidemiological studies to answer policy and practice questions and to translate complex research findings into policy and practice.Â
I lead and collaborate on projects that build and analyse linked health and social data infrastructure to create the ‘intelligence’ needed to inform health system responses to public health problems affecting children, with a focus on disadvantaged children and inequities. My research program currently focuses on children involved with child protection services, evaluation of a sustained nurse-home visiting program and contributing population-level evidence on Aboriginal child health to mixed methods projects led by Aboriginal academics and/or Aboriginal Community Controlled Service collaborations.Â
I have expertise in epidemiological methods, data linkage, building analysis-ready linked datasets, cohort studies and advanced statistical methods to execute policy and practice revelant research.Â
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- 2020-2025 Â Transforming the health system response to child maltreatment: the need for cross-jurisdictional e-cohorts. NHMRC Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies Grant ($1,248,388), CIA.
- 2021-2025  Aboriginal child restoration from out-of-home care: pathways for success. ARC Discovery Indigenous Grant ($427,685), CIC (Lead, data linkage component of project).
- 2020-2025  ACCESS: Aboriginal Community Controlled Ear health Support System: developing, embedding and evaluating best practice models of care. MRFF Grant ($887,186), CIF (Lead, data linkage component of project).
- 2021-2024 Â Evaluation of Sustaining NSW Families, NSW Health tender ($400,000), CI (Lead, outcomes evaluation using data linkage).Â
- 2023-2027 Are we meeting the health needs of 50,000 children in out-of-home care?. MRFF Research Data Infrastructure Grant ($2.4M), CI (Lead, NSW stream of project).
- 2024-2027 . NSW Health ($350,000), CIA.