Rate My Professor Alison Brown

Dr Alison L. Brown is a qualified dietitian and early career researcher serving as a Clinical Teaching and Research Academic with the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health in Port Macquarie, and a Senior Research Assistant embedded within the Hunter New England Population Health Research Group, affiliated with the School of Medicine and Public Health in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Behavioural Science at the University of Newcastle in 2023, Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours) from the University of Newcastle, and Bachelor of Clinical Science from Charles Sturt University. Dr Brown's research specializations include chronic disease prevention, digital health, health promotion, implementation science, and nutrition, focusing on the development, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion service delivery initiatives for children aged 0-18 years over nearly a decade.

Dr Brown's career history at the University of Newcastle and affiliated organizations includes her current positions as Senior Research Assistant since December 2023 and Project Officer (Evaluation Lead) since June 2022, prior roles as Research Assistant from September 2017 to September 2022, and Research Assistant in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing from June to December 2014. She has extensive experience conducting large-scale randomised controlled trials and implementation science research, informing practice and policy with programs implemented across New South Wales and nationwide. Key examples include the SWAP IT school-based nutrition digital health intervention, now scaled across Australia, and evaluation leadership for the Healthy Beginnings for Hunter New England Kids digital health program supporting parents and carers in the first 2000 days of life (0-5 years). Key publications comprise Delaney T et al., 'Breastfeeding and Early Infant Feeding Practices Among Women in the Hunter New England Region of New South Wales, Australia: A Cross Sectional Study' (Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2025); Barnes C et al., 'Improving the adoption of a school-based nutrition program: findings from a collaborative network of randomised trials' (Implementation Science, 2025); Brown AL et al., 'The Impact of Dose in an mHealth Intervention to Support Parents and Carers Via Healthy Beginnings for Hunter New England Kids Program: Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial' (JMIR Formative Research, 2025); Brown A et al., 'New models to support parents to pack healthy lunchboxes: Parents acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, and adoption of the SWAP IT m-Health program' (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2023); and Sutherland R et al., 'A systematic review of adaptations and effectiveness of scaled-up nutrition interventions' (Nutrition Reviews, 2022).