Dr. Vanessa Vaughan, also known as Ness Vaughan, serves as Senior Lecturer in Global Health and Sub-Dean for Global Medicine within the UWA Medical School at the University of Western Australia. As a proactive and driven translational researcher, Dr. Vaughan is dedicated to lifelong learning and partnering with community members and educators to generate research outputs that tangibly enhance healthcare delivery. Their work centers on how individuals interact with and experience health services, with a particular emphasis on improving outcomes for populations facing systemic barriers to care. Key research areas include patient and carer experiences of cancer cachexia—a condition involving muscle loss in cancer patients—health literacy within community contexts, and advancements in medical education related to global health, LGBTQIA+ health, and Indigenous health. Their expertise aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals such as Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

Dr. Vaughan earned a Doctor of Philosophy titled Cancer Cachexia: A Molecular Nutrition Approach from Deakin University in 2014, a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Forensic Biology from Deakin University in 2009, and a Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Learning & Teaching) from Deakin University in 2021. In addition to their primary roles at UWA, where they also act as Community Engagement Lead, Dr. Vaughan maintains affiliate positions as Senior Lecturer in Public Health Medicine at Deakin University since March 2023 and Senior Lecturer in Global Medicine at the University of Arizona from February 2023 to June 2025. Notable publications include "A cross-sectional health literacy profile of Australian regional adults using the Health Literacy Questionnaire©" (Beasant et al., 2023, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health), "Building gender and sexual diversity into case-based learning" (Uden, Vaughan & Wilcox, 2024, Focus on Health Professional Education: a Multi-Disciplinary Journal), "Health Literacy and Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Scoping Review" (Beasant et al., 2025, Public Health Reports), "Health care professionals' experiences of dealing with cancer cachexia" (Ellis et al., 2023, International Journal of Clinical Oncology), and "Health literacy and cardiovascular disease prevention: a systematic scoping review protocol" (Beasant et al., 2022, BMJ Open). Dr. Vaughan is accepting PhD and higher degree by research students.

Professional Email: ness.vaughan@uwa.edu.au