Natalie Walker

Professor Natalie Walker joined Flinders in March 2025 as Director of the Flinders University Trials Research Unit, within the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute (FHMRI). The Unit supports trial research across the entirety of Flinders University.  She is a member of the Public Health Discipline Group leadership team, within the University's College of Medicine and Public Health. She is also a member of the South Australian Teletrials Advisory Committee, the South Australian National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), and the Flinders University Nicotine and Tobacco Research group. 

Prior to joining Flinders Natalie was a research academic and based within the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Auckland University, New Zealand. She was also Co-Director of the Faculty Research Centre for Translational Health Research and Co-Director of the Faculty Research Centre for Addiction Research.  Natalie is New Zealand born, and started her 30-year research career in environmental epidemiology and infectious disease epidemiology, then moved into cardiovascular disease and modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (e.g., tobacco and alcohol). She is particularly interested in identifying affordable, practical and scalable interventions (appropriate to local conditions and populations) to improve health and wellbeing. Her work has spanned from preclinical research through to policy, and has a strong equity focus.  She has specific expertise in the design and conduct of clinical trials, especially large, pragmatic community-based trials that are designed to inform practice and policy. 

To date Natalie has secured NZ$54 million in international/national research funding. Her extensive period of research leadership has culminated in being recognised as a Fellow of the international Society for Research into Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT). Her publication metrics are significant, with over 300 peer-reviewed research outputs, and publications in high impact journals (e.g., New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, British Medical Journal, and JAMA).