Dr Celine Northcott

PhD (Medicine), MRes (Population Health Practice), BBus (Marketing)

Dr Celine Northcott is a Research Associate in the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University, where she specialises in preventive medicine and population health. Her research portfolio spans health translation and implementation science, epidemiological research, and community-based health interventions, with a particular focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, paediatric screening programs, and maternal and child health.

Celine completed her PhD in Medicine (Paediatrics) at the University of Adelaide in 2025, where her doctoral thesis explored the implementation of a world-first antenatal screening initiative. Titled From Evidence to Action: Implementing a Novel Omega-3 Test-and-Treat Program in Antenatal Care to Prevent Preterm Birth, her research demonstrated how targeted omega-3 fatty acid supplementation could be translated from clinical evidence into a statewide screening program integrated within routine antenatal care. This work was undertaken in collaboration with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and SA Pathology, and has since progressed to national scale-up and commercial translation.

Her academic training combines diverse disciplinary perspectives. She holds a Master of Research in Population Health Practice from the University of South Australia (2021) and a Bachelor of Business in Marketing (2019), also from the University of South Australia. This cross-disciplinary foundation enables her to integrate rigorous epidemiological research with strategic health communication, stakeholder engagement, and program implementation—bridging the gap between clinical research and real-world healthcare delivery.

Professional Experience

Since 2026, Celine has served as a Research Associate at Flinders University, providing research and evaluation support for population health programs across government and health agencies. Her work encompasses qualitative and quantitative research, data analysis, program implementation, and policy translation, with a sustained focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equity and community-based interventions.

From 2023 to 2025, Celine held a Research Fellowship at SAHMRI within the Women and Kids Theme, where she led the implementation and evaluation of the Omega-3 Test-and-Treat Program. In this role, she managed aspects of program delivery, including stakeholder engagement with Aboriginal and culturally diverse communities, staff training across multiple health sites, development of health education materials, and coordination between research and laboratory teams to ensure clinical and regulatory compliance. She conducted comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluations using epidemiological and public health frameworks, applying mixed-methods research to inform evidence-based policy and clinical practice. The program received recognition through the 2022 Health Translation SA Research Impact Award and the 2025 Translation and Impact Award.

Since 2018, Celine has contributed to multiple National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)-funded projects as a Research Assistant at Adelaide University, supporting participant recruitment, data collection, ethics documentation, and analysis for public health and behavioural science studies. Celine continues to engage with Adelaide University on various grant projects within the College of Health.

Research Impact and Recognition

Celine's research has been recognised through competitive grants and institutional awards, including:

• 2026 Healthy Development Adelaide — Travel and Development Grant ($1,500)
• 2025 SAHMRI Translation and Impact Award — Omega-3 Test-and-Treat Program
• 2023 Women's Health Research, Translation & Impact Network Early Career Researcher Award, Medical Research Future Fund ($10,000)
• 2022 Associate Investigator, Medical Research Future Fund — Omega-3 Precision Nutrition Strategy ($1.36 million)
• 2022 Health Translation SA Research Impact Award — Omega-3 Test-and-Treat Program

Her work has contributed to health promotion campaigns addressing antenatal screening, methamphetamine prevention, alcohol and other drug program evaluation, and physical activity promotion, involving extensive collaboration across industry, government, and academic sectors. She is a strong advocate for disease prevention, health equity, and evidence-based population health interventions.

Selected Publications

Celine has authored or co-authored over 15 peer-reviewed publications in leading health and medical journals, with recent works including:

Best, K.P., Northcott, C., Simmonds, L.A., et al. (2025). The early implementation phase of the Omega-3 Test-and-Treat Program for reducing the risk of preterm birth, South Australia, 2021–22: an implementation evaluation study. Medical Journal of Australia, 223, 626-633.

Stephens, J. H., Northcott, C., Machell, A., Lewis, T., & Ooi, E. H. (2025). Exploring parental experiences of childhood ear health clinics and their acceptability of AI-based diagnostic tools: A qualitative study. Health Expectations, 28(5), e70421.

Northcott, C., Makrides, M., Middleton, P., & Simmonds, L. (2024). How message framing and visual cues drive health-related advertising effectiveness: Consumer response to social and mass media promotion for pregnancy screening programs. Journal of Advertising Research: Special Issue on Prosocial Advertising, 64(1), 18-38.

Haupt, S., Carcel, C., Halliday, L., Billiards, S., Carson, L., Northcott, C., et al. (2025). Catalysing change in health and medical research policy: an Australian case study of deliberative democracy to reform sex and gender policy recommendations. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1522213.

Celine has also contributed to commissioned government reports, including the evaluation of methamphetamine prevention campaigns and assertive outreach programs for the South Australian government.

Current Research Focus

Celine's current research interests centre on health translation and implementation science, with a focus on translating clinical evidence into scalable, equitable health programs. Her work addresses preventable health conditions through population-level interventions, health communication strategies, and collaborative partnerships with communities, government agencies, and industry. She is particularly interested in maternal and child health, paediatric screening, and the intersection of epidemiological research with real-world healthcare delivery.