Robyn McDermott is Professor of Public Health Medicine at the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention James Cook University, Senior Clinical Research Fellow (Queensland),  NHMRC Practitioner Fellow and Professor of Public Health in the School of Population Health (UniSA) and the Sansom Institute for Health Research (South Australia).

Robyn previously served as Professor of Public Health Medicine at JCU in Cairns from 2002-4 and prior to that, as Medical Epidemiologist in the Cairns Tropical Public Health Unit from 1995. She has been a Research Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research in the NT and spent many years working as a clinician and health services manager in rural and remote Australia, and in refugee health in South East Asia in the 1980’s and 90’s.

From 2000 to 2004 she served as Vice President, then President of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine and numerous advisory committees to state and commonwealth governments. Robyn has worked as a consultant for WHO, AusAID, the World Bank and State and Commonwealth governments and others, in health services and Public Health.  Her research interests are in chronic disease epidemiology, clinical quality improvement and disease prevention. She has chaired NHMRC Grant Review Panels for Projects, Fellowships and Capacity Building Grants and has had continuous NHMRC funding as lead investigator since 1998, totalling more than $12 million.

Robyn has co-ordinated and taught Masters level courses in Epidemiology and Health Economics while in the Northern Territory, and a new masters course in chronic disease and public health at James Cook University, as well as contributing to undergraduate teaching on the new JCU Medical Course.

Qualifications: MBBS University of Sydney 1978, FAFPHM The Royal Australasian College of Physicians 1990,MPH Harvard University 1993, PhD University of Sydney 2002

Interests

Research

• Robyn's research interests include the epidemiology of chronic disease and health transition, and how primary health care can improve outcomes in resource-poor settings. Her work on improving diabetes care systems in remote far north Queensland resulted in major changes to policy and practice, and was recognised by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) as one of the “best 10” projects in 2006 More recently her focus has been the effective translation of research evidence into clinical and public health practice, with attention to systems issues including funding models, policy environment, information systems, workforce development and quality improvement in primary care settings Although coming late to the formal research world, she has earned more than $7 million in NHMRC research grant funding as lead investigator and more than $8million as co-investigator.

Research Disciplines

• Public Health and Health Services (1117)
• Clinical Sciences (1103)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Indigenous Health (9203)
• Clinical Health (9201)
• Health and Support Services (9202)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Berger M, Taylor S, Harriss L, Campbell S, Thompson F, Jones S, Makrides M, Gibson R, Amminger G, Sarnyai Z and McDermott R (in press) Cross-sectional association of seafood consumption, polyunsaturated fatty acids and depressive symptoms in two Torres Strait communities. Nutritional Neuroscience, , DOI:10.1080/1028415X.2018.1504429.
• Merone L, McDermott R, Mein J, Clarke P and McDonald M (in press) Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in minority Indigenous populations: a systematic review. Heart, Lung and Circulation, , DOI:10.1016/j.hlc.2019.06.720.
• Tran-Duy A, McDermott R, Knight J, Xinyang H, Barr E, Arabena K, Palmer A and Clarke P (2020) Development and use of prediction models for classification of cardiovascular risk of remote Indigenous Australians. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 29 (3), pp. 374-383, DOI:10.1016/j.hlc.2019.02.005.
• Berger M, Taylor S, Harriss L, Campbell S, Thompson F, Jones S, Sushames A, Amminger G, Sarnyai Z and McDermott R (2019) Hair cortisol, allostatic load, and depressive symptoms in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Stress, 22 (3), pp. 312-320, DOI:10.1080/10253890.2019.1572745.
• Campbell S, Tracey E, Fagan R, Pearson K, Thompson F, McDermott R and McDonald M (2019) Childhood infection, antibiotic exposure and subsequent metabolic risk in adolescent and young adult Aboriginal Australians: practical implications. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 25 (6), pp. 555-563, DOI:10.1071/PY18110.
• Haigh K, McDermott R, Sinha A and McLean A (2019) Diagnosis and management of type 2 diabetes in youth in North Queensland and the Northern Territory: a health professional survey. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 27 (1), pp. 42-48, DOI:10.1111/ajr.12458.
• Harriss L, Thompson F, Lawson K, O'Loughlin M and McDermott R (2019) Preventable hospitalisations in regional Queensland: potential for primary health? Australian Health Review, 43 (4), Article: AH18033, pp. 371-381, DOI:10.1071/AH18033.
• Leonard D, Buttner P, Thompson F, Makrides M and McDermott R (2019) Anaemia in early childhood among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children of Far North Queensland: a retrospective cohort study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 43 (4), pp. 319-327, DOI:10.1111/1753-6405.12911.
• Mann J, Devine S and McDermott R (2019) Integrated care for community dwelling older Australians. Journal of Integrated Care, 27 (2), pp. 173-187, DOI:10.1108/JICA-10-2018-0063.
• O'Loughlin M, Harriss L, Thompson F, McDermott R and Mills J (2019) Exploring factors that influence adult presentation to an emergency department in regional Queensland: a linked, cross‐sectional, patient perspective study. Emergency Medicine Australasia, 31 (3), pp. 67-75, DOI:10.1111/1742-6723.13094.
• Slagman A, Harriss L, Campbell S, Muller R and McDermott R (2019) Folic acid deficiency declined substantially after introduction of the mandatory fortification programme in Queensland, Australia: a secondary health data analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 22 (18), pp. 3426-3434, DOI:10.1017/S1368980019002258.
• Slagman A, Harriss L, Campbell S, Muller R and McDermott R (2019) Low proportions of folic acid deficiency after introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification in remote areas of northern Queensland, Australia: a secondary health data analysis. Biomarkers, 24 (7), pp. 684-691, DOI:10.1080/1354750X.2019.1652346.

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 139+ research outputs authored by Prof Robyn McDermott from 2002 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Obesity in Pregnancy (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Features of Primary Health Care Services in Remote Indigenous Communities that Contribute to Hospital Avoidance for Ambulatory Sensitive Chronic Conditions (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Health Care Homes in Cairns: a mixed methods study exploring the experience of adults living with chronic conditions to inform the new model of primary health care (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Analysis of Hookworm Infection-Induced Changes in the Intestinal Microbiome of People at Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Older Persons enablement and rehabilitation for complex health conditions: OPEN ARCH Study (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)

Completed

• Evaluation of a pragmatic community-tailored physical activity program with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Biological endophenotypes of prodromal psychosis and depression (2018, PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
• Anaemia among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their mothers in Far North Queensland (2020, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Improving diabetes care and management in Torres Strait remote primary health care settings (2017, PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Helminth infection and metabolic disease: Strongyloides stercoralis infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus in an Aboriginal community (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.