Kalinda Griffiths is a Yawuru woman and an Early Career Researcher with training and experience in cancer epidemiology, social epidemiology, analysis of linked data, and laboratory science. She is currently the Wingara Mura Leadership Program Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, based at the Sydney Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics (SCATSIS), and an Honorary Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research.
She completed a Certificate III in Laboratory Techniques in 2001, a Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree in 2008, and a Master of Public Health degree in 2010. Her PhD thesis on the epidemiology of disparities in lung cancer in New South Wales, which was funded in part by an NHMRC Public Health Scholarship and Lowitja Institute Scholarship, is in the final stages of examination. Her core interest is in better understanding the complex health inequities experienced by Australians through the use of data, particularly big data and linked data. Kalinda was the NT Young Australian of the Year in 2011 for her contributions to Indigenous health research and in particular in better understanding the prevalence and burden of cancer in the Indigenous setting. She is currently working projects covering Indigenous mortality reporting, identifying ways in which to best measure experiences of care for Indigenous people with cancer, addressing the underestimation of Indigenous birth registrations and state reporting of Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage to NSW health.
Kalinda is Unit Coordinator of the University of Sydney’s Deputy Vice Chancellor of Indigenous Strategy and Services, Service Learning in Indigenous Communities program, a teaching and learning strategy that involves students in local community service activities and facilitates the application of their experience into their academic and personal development. She has developed and delivered units in epidemiology (2011-present) and public health (2010-11) to undergraduate and master students at CDU and has tutored Indigenous students in the Master of Public Health program at Deakin University for the last five years.
Kalinda has previously served as a member and Chair of the Aboriginal Ethics Sub-Committee of the joint Menzies School of Health Research-NT Department of Health Human Research Ethics Committee; she is currently an Advisor to the Sub-Committee and a member (Epidemiologist with Research Experience) of the Main Committee. She was a Committee Member for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Research Group of the NHMRC Harmonisation of Multicentre Ethics Review (HoMER) (2012-2014), and the NHMRC’s Indigenous Early Career Working Group (2012 – 2013). She is currently a member of the Australian Bureau of Statistics National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey Advisory Committee (2016-current), the Australasian Vital Statistics Interest Group (2015- current), the principle Cancer Council Australia Advisory Group and sits on research-related Advisory Committees for Menzies School of Health Research and the University of Sydney. She is also a member of the International Group for Indigenous Health Measurement. She has accepted invitations to review documents for the Department of Health (NPS MedicineWise), Cancer Australia and a range of journals with particular interest in complex disparities.