qualifications: PhD
position: Director & Professor of Rural Health
Lesley Barclay (AO PhD) is the foundation Professor of Health Services Development at Charles Darwin University and co directs a new Graduate School of Health Practice. As the Chief Investigator she guided medical and midwifery colleagues in one of the first National Health and Medical Research Council Centres of Clinical Excellence in Research focusing on improvements to maternity services. She is currently leading research into maternity services in China funded by ARC in partnership Chinese colleagues, and on Indigenous birth and systems to support this in Australia. Lesley has led over 30 research projects and been successful with 8 NHMRC and ARC grants in the last decade, supervising more than 30 major research theses to successful completion. Five of her graduates are now in professorial positions. In recent years she has published 3 books, 25 refereed journal articles and 15 major reports for government. Lesley has worked in International development for nearly 20 years, as a technical adviser to governments, AusAID, World Bank and WHO, in provision of primary health car, maternal infant/child health and capacity building in health worker education systems. This work has occurred in Asia, Melanesia and the Pacific Islands. Lesley has also served on a variety of national committees such as the NHMRC Council for two terms and was an inaugural ministerial appointee to the Australian Council for Safety and Quality. She was awarded an AO in 2004 in recognition of her contribution to professional and international developments and child health.
Community water fluoridation and child dental caries in remote NT
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Prevalence and factors associated with sarcopenia in southern Brazil
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Community events to increase uptake of Indigenous-specific health assessments
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11th Biennial Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress (PRIDoC) 2024, 2–6 December 2024, Kaurna Country, Adelaide, Australia
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Te Tāreitanga: Evolving understanding of health workforce research, 9 December 2024, Dunedin, NZ, and online
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4th International Indigenous Health & Wellbeing Conference 2025, 16–19 June 2025, Adelaide Convention Centre, Kaurna Country, Australia
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