Melissa Harris

Melissa Harris is a Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health. As a Brawn Research Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Health Research, she specializes in women's health, chronic disease management, and reproductive health research.

• PhD in Gender and Health, University of Newcastle
• Bachelor of Arts (Psychology Honours), University of Newcastle

Her research focuses on contraception (including LARC uptake, contraceptive decision-making, and access barriers) and chronic disease (stress-disease connections, psychosocial factors, and comorbidity analysis). She leads the Worldwide Wellness of Mothers and Babies (WWOMB) program and employs longitudinal modeling, data linkage, and qualitative methods.

Recent publications examine diabetes-palliative care integration, contraception in chronic disease cohorts, and maternal health disparities. With over $900,000 in grants (including NHMRC and ARC funding), she has published 99 journal articles and supervised multiple PhD/Masters students.

Scientific Awards

• 2021 University of Newcastle Research Supervision Excellence Award
• 2018 Australian Research Council DECRA recipient
• 2011 University of Newcastle Postgraduate Research Scholarship

She contributes to Reproductive Health and BMC Women's Health journal editorial boards and serves as a reviewer for top-tier journals like The BMJ and American Journal of Epidemiology. Her teaching spans psychology, public health, and health policy subjects.