Dwan Vilcins

Dr. Dwan Vilcins is a Research Fellow (Environmental Scientist) at the Child Health Research Centre within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland. With a background in public health and nutrition, she is an environmental epidemiologist specializing in children's environmental health.

Her educational background includes a Master of Public Health and a PhD from The University of Queensland. Her doctoral research focused on "Novel green space measures and birthweight in Queensland, Australia." She is also a founder and co-host of the R Peer Group at UQ/QIMR.

Dr. Vilcins' research interests center on environmental exposures and child health, with particular focus on:

• Environmentally persistent free radicals, air pollution, and children's lung outcomes
• Maternal exposure to green space, ambient temperature and air pollution and the association with neonatal and child outcomes
• The knowledge of GPs and naturopaths on environmental health issues for preconception care
• Exposures to phthalates and allergic disease

Her recent publications demonstrate trends across environmental health, epidemiology, and child health research. She has published extensively on air pollution, green space, endocrine disrupting chemicals, and their impacts on child health outcomes. Her work often employs epidemiological methods to understand how environmental exposures affect children's health from prenatal stages through childhood.

Dr. Vilcins has received research funding from various sources including NHMRC grants focused on:

• Barriers to Solutions: Co-Designing Effective Health Protective Behaviours for Firefighters in Bushfire Scenarios
• Developing evidence-based responses for a climate-resilient mental health care system
• Providing evidence to guide public health messages during bushfire smoke events

She is actively involved in supervising PhD students across multiple projects related to environmental health, including research on green space and children's health, maternal exposures to environmental hazards, and the impacts of bushfire smoke on health.