Dr Maureen Makama

Maureen is a public health professional with research experience in maternal health, nutrition and lifestyle behaviour change, and cancer epidemiology. Her PhD research was undertaken at Monash University and focused on developing evidence-based and novel strategies to improve the health and wellbeing of postpartum women. She also holds a Master of Science degree in Nutrition and Health specializing in Epidemiology and Public Health and a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree.

She has experience using both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and engaging stakeholders for program development. She has published high-quality peer-reviewed articles. At Burnet Institute, Maureen is a Research Officer in the Global Women's and Newborn's Health Group. Her research focuses on accelerating innovations to improve maternal health outcomes in resource-constrained settings. Her projects aim to foster greater investments in the research and development of medicines for the prevention and management of obstetric and gynaecological conditions.

Prior to her current role, Maureen worked as a Research Coordinator at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute where she managed the data and study outputs of a large multi-site trial. She also previously worked on a USAID-funded project to promote reproductive health and family planning uptake in hard-to-reach areas of a resource-constrained country.

• 2023: PhD Public Health, Monash University, Australia
• 2015: MSc Nutrition and Health (specialization: Epidemiology and Public Health), Wageningen University, The Netherlands
• 2006: BPharm, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria

• 2021–ongoing: Deputy Chair, Consumer group for Cardiometabolic Health Implementation Research in Postpartum individuals (CHIRP)

• 2024: Dora Lush Travel Academic Excellence Fellowship
• 2022: The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre seeding grant programs (Capacity building, $3000)
• 2021: Bursary award, World Congress of Epidemiology
• 2020: Best PhD student presentation award, Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum Early and Mid-Career Researcher Collective (HiPPP EMR-C) conference
• 2020: Best rapid-fire presentation award, Health in Preconception, Pregnancy and Postpartum Early and Mid-Career Researcher Collective (HiPPP EMR-C) conference
• 2019: Monash Graduate Scholarship
• 2019: Monash International Tuition Scholarship
• 2014: Anne van den Ban Fund, Wageningen University

• 2022–ongoing: Research Officer, Global Women’s and Newborn’s Health Group, Burnet Institute
• 2021–2022: Research Coordinator, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
• 2021–2022: Teaching Associate Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
• 2015: Research intern, The Netherlands Cancer Institute
• 2009–2011: Medical Detailer, Society for Family Health, Maiduguri, Nigeria