Elke Mitchell

Dr. Elke Mitchell is a Senior Research Fellow in the Global Health Program at UNSW Sydney's Kirby Institute (Faculty of Medicine & Health), with a cross-appointment as Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She holds an ARC DECRA Fellowship and specializes in medical anthropology, public health, and gender studies, focusing on Pacific and Indigenous communities in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Solomon Islands.

Her research examines sexual/reproductive health, infertility, STI control, and neglected tropical diseases. Key projects include an ARC DECRA study on infertility in Fiji, NHMRC-funded evaluations of STI treatment impacts on perinatal health, and adolescent contraceptive care in Indonesia. Her work emphasizes socio-cultural determinants of health and community-centered interventions.

Awards include the ARC DECRA (2025–2027), Kirby Emerging Investigator Award (2018), and Endeavour Research Fellowship (2012). She leads major grants totaling over $4.5M, including NHMRC projects on scabies MDA and adolescent reproductive health.

• Current Grants: ARC DECRA ($477K), NHMRC Ideas Grant ($1.9M), GLIDE Falcon Award ($50K).
• Previous Grants: NHMRC-CRE ($40K), Department of Health ($307.5K).

She collaborates with institutions like the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and coordinates social science components of multinational health trials. Her work integrates anthropology with public health to address health inequities.