Dr Chris Rissel

Senior Research Fellow

College of Medicine and Public Health

place Royal Darwin Hospital

Chris Rissel has worked for many years in health promotion program development and implementation, research and evaluation, mostly in NSW but also in the USA and Germany. His work has focused on childhood and adult obesity prevention, physical activity and cycling advocacy, tobacco control and sexual health. He is interested in implementation science and research translation.

He was a co-author of the national report 'Getting Australia Moving - barriers, facilitators and interventions to get more Australians physically active through cycling'. Chris is one of the Chief Investigators of the first, second and third Australian Study of Health and Relationships (AHSR) funded by the NHMRC, looking at changes in sexual health and behaviour in Australia.

Qualifications

Ph.D (Behavioural Epidemiology), University of Minnesota (USA), 1994

Master of Public Health (Health promotion),University of Sydney, 1990

Bachelor of Science with Honours (Psychology), University of New South Wales, 1985

Honours, awards and grants

Honarary Professor, University of Sydney (2017)

The Australian Health Promotion Association created the annual ‘Prof Chris Rissel Award’ in 2018 for the best reviewer of manuscripts for the Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

Life Membership of the Australian Health Promotion Association, awarded at the Annual General Meeting held during Australian Health Promotion Association’s 21st National Conference, 17th June, 2013, Sydney for “distinguished, meritorious and special service as a mature leader in health promotion in Australia and for the significant contribution to the purposes and objectives of the Association”.

Cycling Achievement Award of the Year – Professional Category – From the Cycling Promotion Fund for contributions in advancing cycling in the health sector – 2005.

Medibank Private / J Ashburton Thompson Public Health Award, 1998, Public Health Association of Australia

Lester Breslow Award for Academic Excellence in Health Promotion, 1994, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, USA

Cottee's Prize for Public Health Nutrition, 1988, School of Public Health, Sydney University, Australia

Teaching interests

MMED9151 Medicine 1B - Advanced Studies 2020

Supervisory interests
Advocacy for rural and remote health
Childhood obesity, physical activity and community awareness
Health promotion
Health promotion practice
Physical activity
Remote and rural health services research, workforce, management and policy
Rural/remote health
Higher degree by research supervision
Completion
Principal supervisor: Public Health (3)