Gabriela Fernando

Assistant Professor, Public Health

E: gabriela.fernando@monash.edu

Dr Gabriela Fernando

Dr Gabriela Fernando is an Assistant Professor in Public Health and part of the foundational academic team at Monash University, Indonesia. As a health researcher, Dr Gabriela’s key areas of interests are in interdisciplinary concepts across non-communicable diseases, social determinants of health, global health systems and policy, health financing, financial inclusion, climate change and health, women’s health and gender equality, and engaging with multi-sectoral stakeholders, with a focus on low-and middle-income countries.

Prior to joining Monash University, Dr Gabriela served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Gender & Health Hub at the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health. She also served as an academic for the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia, teaching courses and supervising research projects for undergraduate and postgraduate students, including the Doctor of Medicine program.

Dr Gabriela holds a PhD in Global Health from the University of Queensland, which focused on the intersections of microfinance programs, public health outcomes, and gender perspectives for women in Sri Lanka. She completed her Master of International Public Health, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours in Anatomy), also from UQ.

More information

  • Hodgson, L., Fernando, G., Lansbury, N. (2022). ‘Exploring the health impacts of climate change in subsistence fishing communities throughout Micronesia: A narrative review. Weather, Climate and Society, 653-669, https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-21-0169.1
  • Remme, M., Vassall, A., Fernando, G., & Bloom, D. E. (2020). ‘Investing in the health of girls and women: a best buy for sustainable development’. BMJ, 369, m1175. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1175
  • Fernando, G., Durham, J., Vlack, S., Townsend, N., Wickramasinghe, K., & Gouda, H. (2020). Examining the evidence of microfinance on non-communicable disease health indicators and outcomes: A systematic literature review. Global Public Health, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1858135
  • Fernando, G. (2020). Exploring Microfinance Initiatives and Women in Sri Lanka: Linking Health and Development. School of Public Health, The University of Queensland. https://doi.org/10.14264/c11985c

    Teaching:

    • Public Health Fundamentals
    • Chronic Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
    • Qualitative Research Methods
    • Economic Management in Health Care

    Research:

    • Global health (Non-Communicable Diseases)
    • Social determinants of health
    • Health financing and Equity
    • Women’s health
    • Gender and Financial inclusion
    • Microfinance programs
    • Gender equality
    • Qualitative research methods

Research Grants:

  • Assessing the health impacts of indebtedness and climate change among agrarian households in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone [Project partners: UNDP Sri Lanka, University of Queensland (Australia), University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Sri Lanka)]
  • Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (2016 - 2020), Department of Education, Australian Government
  • HDR Career Development Scholarship (2017 - 2018), School of Public Health, University of Queensland
  • Grants Assessor, Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) - Clinician Researchers: Health Grant Opportunity grant assessment committee, Department of Health and Aged Care, Australian Government