Belinda Davison

Dr Belinda Davison

Senior Research Officer, Child and Maternal Health Division

Qualifications:

PhD, Charles Darwin University, 2020; Master in Public Health, Charles Darwin University, 2012; Graduate Diploma in Public Health, Charles Darwin University, 2011; Diploma in Nursing, Royal Hobart Hospital, 1990

Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:

Associate Supervisor

Location:

Darwin - Royal Darwin Hospital campus

Biography:

Dr Belinda Davison is a Senior Research Fellow and Program Manager of Menzies’ Life Course team based in Darwin. She has worked in the NT for the past 25 years, initially as a registered nurse and 16 years in health research. Her work with the Menzies’ Life Course studies is specifically focused on examining the early antecedents of chronic disease, including kidney disease and mental health, using a life course approach.  

She has been influential in the successful continuation, collection and management of health data (including body size, shape and composition, cardiovascular measures and renal function, emotional status, and lifestyle factors, as well as qualitative in-depth interviews) as part of two life course studies across three follow-ups over a 16-year timespan. Namely, the Aboriginal Birth Cohort (ABC) study, the longest-running and largest health study involving Aboriginal Australians and the non-Indigenous Top End Cohort. 

Through her extensive travel with the ABC study, Belinda has developed strong connections with over 40 urban and remote First Nations communities across the NT. She is proficient in community engagement and feedback, leading the co-designing of numerous culturally appropriate and safe information brochures, flip charts, data collection tools and questionnaires, and feedback resources. Belinda has a strong interest in using the knowledge gained from the life course approach to inform the development of co-designed, appropriate protocols and resources for the detection and management of chronic disease, particularly kidney disease and mental health. She has recently completed her PhD, examining the influence stress has on the emotional wellbeing of young Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults.

Her research experience has also involved a broad range of qualitative and quantitative research projects including using body mapping to engage adolescent in a sexual health education study which resulted in the development of an educational tool, and a clinical study examining the renal health of preterm babies.