Amy Anderson

Amy Anderson serves as an Honorary Associate Lecturer at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, while working as a Senior Research Officer specializing in health behavior research. Her academic career is deeply intertwined with the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, where she investigates critical health risk factors including alcohol use during pregnancy, tobacco consumption, overweight and obesity, and violence against women.

Dr. Anderson earned both her PhD and Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) from the University of Newcastle. She is affiliated with the Centre for Women's Health Research and contributes extensively to survey development for longitudinal health studies. Her methodological expertise spans quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, allowing comprehensive investigation of women's health behaviors across the lifespan.

Her research concentrates on antenatal health behaviors with particular emphasis on alcohol use in pregnancy, public health guideline adherence, and predictors of negative health behaviors. Through the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, she has produced significant findings about how women interact with health guidelines, especially regarding alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Her work has evolved to include broader aspects of women's health, including intimate partner violence impacts and health behaviors across different life stages.

Dr. Anderson has secured research funding totaling $57,500, including a $32,500 grant in 2020 for 'Integrated approaches for domestic and family violence, mental health issues and alcohol and other drugs misuse' and a $25,000 grant in 2013 for 'A life course perspective on the identification of risk factors for low birth weight.' Her scholarly output includes 31 journal articles, 7 conference presentations, and 12 reports, demonstrating consistent productivity across multiple domains of women's health research.

Her research has garnered attention across academic and policy spheres, with citations in policy documents, news coverage, and significant engagement on academic platforms like Mendeley. Notably, her work on alcohol use during pregnancy revealed that eight in ten expectant mothers consume alcohol during pregnancy, which received media coverage. She maintains extensive collaborations with researchers including Deborah Loxton, John Wiggers, and Emma Doherty, contributing to interdisciplinary research teams addressing complex women's health issues.