Rate My Professor John Wiggers

Professor John Wiggers is a professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health within the Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle. He holds a BA (Hons) and a PhD in Behavioural Medicine. He serves as Director of Health Research and Translation and Population Health at the Hunter New England Local Health District, leading a team of over 100 staff delivering preventive services to 800,000 people across a region from Newcastle to the Queensland border. His career history includes Acting Director of Population Health for New South Wales, Director of the University of Newcastle Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour, and Co-Director of the Hunter Medical Research Institute Public Health Capacity Building Program. Wiggers leads prevention and population health services for the Hunter New England region of New South Wales.

Professor Wiggers conducts translational research in preventive medicine, behavioural science, public health, and addiction medicine, focusing on health risk behaviour and practice change interventions in community and clinical settings to prevent chronic diseases such as through addressing smoking, alcohol consumption, nutrition, and physical activity. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications with more than 14,000 citations and secured over $40 million in research grants. Key publications include 'Did Physical Activity 4 Everyone work? Efficacy Trial' (American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2016), which showed increased adolescent physical activity; 'Physical Activity 4 Everyone' scaled-up trial (BMC Public Health, 2019); and 'Whole-of-community interventions to reduce population-level harms arising from alcohol and other drug use: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (Addiction, 2018). Major projects encompass the Good for Kids Good for Life initiative, implemented in 400 primary schools and 300 childcare centres, reducing childhood overweight and obesity and adopted statewide as NSW Health's Healthy Children Initiative; and the alcohol linking program with NSW Police, reducing licensed premises crime by 15%, adopted by New Zealand and South Australia Police. He has facilitated over 20 instances of intervention translation into routine practice locally, statewide, nationally, and internationally. In 2016, Wiggers received the Hunter Medical Research Institute Award for Research Excellence as the Hunter's top researcher.