Prof. Robyn Lucas

Prof. Lucas is a medically trained epidemiologist and specialist public health physician. She holds adjunct positions at James Cook University and the Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia. Lucas completed science and medical degrees in 1975 and 1979 (respectively) at the University of Auckland, and worked in clinical settings before completing a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from James Cook University (2000). She received the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine Medal for highest achievement in that course. In 2004 Lucas completed a PhD in Epidemiology and Population Health, examining psychological and social stress effects on immune function. Simultaneous with her PhD work, Lucas was the main contributing author to the WHO Global Burden of Disease due Ultraviolet Radiation assessment, developing the methodology and undertaking all analyses for that work. In 2005 Lucas was awarded Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine. She was a reviewer, then author and now panel member and author of the “Health impacts of ozone depletion” chapters in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 reports of the UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel for the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depletion. Since completing her PhD, Lucas has led internationally recognized research, developed national and international collaborations, been highly successful in seeking funding for ongoing work  and participated in the translation of that work into sun exposure policy. She has had an active teaching role at the ANU Medical School (ANUMS) and been instrumental in the development of epidemiology and biostatistics short courses at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH). She supervises a growing number of doctoral students at ANU and elsewhere and actively contributes to NCEPH, the ANU and the wider academic and general community.