Dr Suzie Waddingham is a lecturer in Health Improvement (School of Medicine) and has a research fellow role with the Tasmanian Collaboration of Health Improvement. She teaches translational research and a research/evaluation capstone unit. Suzie has 21 years of experience as a dietitian in various areas, mainly in community and public health nutrition. Suzie completed her doctorate in health, 2018, where she used participatory action research with primary school children to increase our understanding of how children make decisions about food. Suzie has presented her research at numerous national conferences and recently published in the Appetite journal. After lecturing in the Bachelor of Nutrition Science for three years, Suzie moved to Menzies Institute of Medical Research to start a research fellowship in the area of tobacco, she has continued this research in her current academic role with a focus on prevention and cessation of smoking products among youth. She is looking forward to developing her academic career; empowering students to get the most out of their learning opportunities and continuing research in the field of translational research.

Biography

Before joining the University of Tasmania, Suzie worked for the Department of Health and Human Services in various positions for 17 years. Starting off as a clinical and community dietitian on the North West Tasmanian coast she gained experience in challenges that rural populations face to maintain their health. She moved to the South of the state and worked in a range of positions – clinical, food service, community outpatients – before settling at the Community Nutrition Unit full time. Here she was integral in many state-wide programs, such as Healthy@Work and Move Well Eat Well. She completed a certificate IV in Training and Assessment, which enhanced her skills to train a range of health workers in the area of nutrition (oral health therapists, child health nurses, childcare workers, peer-training programs). Since moving to the University of Tasmania, Suzie has taught students across a range of schools within the College of Health and Medicine (Health Science, Paramedicine, Public Health and Healthcare Redesign) and has been fortunate to collaborate on a number of research projects across all levels of health care. Suzie worked as a Post Doctorate Research Fellow with the Menzies Institute of Medical Research to conduct research among young Tasmanians in the area of tobacco and has continued research in this space, which includes e-cigarette use among Tasmanian young people. She then managed the Tasmanian Collaboration for Health Improvement (TCHI) and was integral in the transition of the collaboration from an establishment phase to operational phase, including securing 3 years of funding and applying to NHMRC to become a recognised Translational Research Centre. Suzie now works with the Healthcare Redesign program (School of Medicine) and TCHI. Suzie continues to be passionate about establishing healthy eating among children, translational research, preventing chronic disease and evaluation of initiatives to continually measure the effectiveness of programs.

Career summary

Qualifications

• Doctor of Health, University of Tasmania, School of Medicine, Tasmania, Australia, 2018. Thesis: Making Health Choices Easy Choices – Taking Tasmanian Primary School Children on their own food journey.
• Masters of Public Health, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, 2008.
• Graduate Diploma in Nutrition & Dietetics, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia, 1997.
• Bachelor of Science (Physiology, Biochemistry), University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia,1995.
• Certificate IV Training and Assessment, Swinburne University, South Australia, Australia, 2008.

Memberships

Professional practice

• Dietitians Australia
• HERDSA

Teaching

Teaching expertise

Prior to working with UTAS, Suzie provided professional development and training to a range of health professional groups around Tasmania. Since 2014, Suzie has worked in a range of lecturing and unit coordination roles in the College of Health and Medicine. This has included face-face, blended learning and online delivery. Units have included introduction to public health, health services and health informatics, health promotion principles and planning, nutrition across the lifespan, nutrition assessment, non-communicable disease prevention and translational research. She currently teaches translational research and a research/evaluation capstone unit. Suzie has completed a Graduate Certificate in University Teaching and continues to expand her expertise in teaching. Recently she received the following rewards:
2022 Vice Chancellors Teaching excellence award
2022 College of Health and Medicine Teaching excellence award
2022 College of Health and Medicine Student focus award