Melody Ding

Melody Ding is an Associate Professor at the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney. She holds a PhD from the Joint Doctoral Program at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University. Her research focuses on epidemiology, physical activity, and chronic disease prevention, with over 200 peer-reviewed publications in top journals like The Lancet and BMJ. She co-led a landmark Lancet series on physical activity in 2016 and 2021, contributing significantly to global health discourse.

Dr. Ding’s education includes an MPH from San Diego State University and a PhD from UCSD/San Diego State. She is co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health and affiliated with the Charles Perkins Centre, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and China Studies Centre.

Her research interests span behavioral epidemiology, public health policy, and global health equity. Key areas include the impact of physical activity on non-communicable diseases, environmental influences on health behaviors, and health disparities in China and other regions.

Dr. Ding has received prestigious awards, including Australia’s Top 20 Researchers Under 40 (2022) and the Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science (2019). She collaborates internationally, particularly in China and the U.S., and has led projects on bicycle-sharing systems, pandemic health behaviors, and loneliness reduction.