Dr Ivana Stankov

Ivana is a Research Fellow applying systems thinking and simulation-based modelling to better understand complex public health issues and the potential effectiveness of policies on health behaviour and disparities in chronic disease outcomes. Based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), she collaborates with researchers at the Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel’s Dornsife School of Public Health in the United States on a National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities-funded project leveraging complex systems approaches to identify policy levers to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in diet and obesity in Philadelphia, USA.

She also works with the Wardliparingga Aboriginal Health Equity Research Unit at SAHMRI, in collaboration with the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy Housing to generate evidence and support policy planning and action focused on improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations through healthy housing.

More broadly, her research to date has applied complexity science and its associated approaches to explore the influence of urban environments, including alcohol retail and transportation access, on a range of health outcomes, including physical activity, alcohol and marijuana use, intimate partner violence, and depression.

I have research affiliate status at:

• Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University, USA
• Johns Hopkins Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, USA
• Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, AUS

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia

• Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours) The University of South Australia