Rate My Professor Emma Byrnes

Emma Byrnes is a Senior Research Officer in the Centre for Women’s Health Research within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing (Public Health) at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a Master of Clinical Epidemiology (Distinction) and a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours), both from the University of Newcastle. Byrnes joined the University in August 2016 as a Research Assistant in the Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, School of Medicine & Public Health, Faculty of Health & Medicine, serving until June 2019. She then transitioned to Research Assistant in the Centre for Women’s Health Research from June 2019 to March 2021, followed by Research Officer from March 2021 to February 2024, before her promotion to Senior Research Officer on 12 February 2024. Her career reflects steady progression in public health research roles focused on advancing health behaviours and women’s health initiatives.

Byrnes’ expertise lies in qualitative methodology and analysis, particularly on projects investigating women’s experiences of violence and abuse. She is managing a trauma-informed care research project to improve best practices in healthcare for women who have lived with violence or abuse. Her research interests include epidemiology, public health, and women’s health. Key publications co-authored by her include: “A randomised trial of real-time video counselling for smoking cessation among rural and remote residents” (2025, Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare); “Australian women’s experiences of contraception and pregnancy planning in the context of chronic disease” (2025, Culture, Health and Sexuality); “Clustering of multiple health-risk factors among vocational education students: a latent class analysis” (2021, Translational Behavioral Medicine); “Access to support for Australian cancer caregivers: in-depth qualitative interviews exploring barriers and preferences for support” (2021, Journal of Psychosocial Oncology Research & Practice); “Exploring Support Provided by Community Managed Organisations to Address Health Risk Behaviours Associated with Chronic Disease among People with Mental Health Conditions: A Qualitative Study with Organisational Leaders” (2022, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health). Other notable works feature in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2019, “Real-time video counselling for smoking cessation”), Journal of Medical Internet Research (2020, “Effectiveness of Individual Real-Time Video Counseling on Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol, Physical Activity, and Obesity Health Risks: Systematic Review”), and Supportive Care in Cancer (2021, “What are the sources of distress in a range of cancer caregivers? A qualitative study”).