HSR Editors in Chief: Karen Willis
Karen Willis is Professor, Allied Health Research, La Trobe University and Melbourne Health. Her disciplinary background is in sociology and she has expertise in qualitative methodologies and methods. Her work examines the links between individual health behaviours and broader social and policy ideas. Karen has led, and been an investigator, on a range of competitive grants (See CV). She has published a textbook on Sociology for Nursing students (two editions); various book chapters and has consistently published in high quality peer reviewed journals across both health sciences and sociology (see CV). She is a regular contributor to The Conversation and is an active user of Twitter, to disseminate current research findings and contribute to contemporary debates.
Karen has been a member of TASA since 1993; has taken part in many Annual Conferences in the Health Section and delivered a keynote address at the Health Thematic Group meeting in June 2015. She has published three articles in Health Sociology Review, has contributed book reviews, and acted as a reviewer for the journal on several occasions. Karen has peer-reviewed for a range of health and social science journals, including Social Science and Medicine, Sociology of Health and Illness, Qualitative Health Research, and BMC Journals. She is a panel member for the Steve Crook Memorial Prize (2014 and 2018). Karen is an active member of the RC15 the Health Thematic Group at ISA, organising sessions on sociological approaches to health care systems at both Vienna (2016) and Toronto (2018) ISA meetings. She organised a session at the European Sociology of Health and Medicine Society (ESHMS) in Lisbon in 2018. She is a regular attender and presenter at the annual BSA Medical Sociology Conference. Her sociology networks include the UK (with UK collaborators on funded grants), US and Scandinavia (through the Bourdieu health capital research group).
Her previous appointments have included Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University (2015-2017); Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Sydney; Senior Lecturer, School of Sociology and Social Work, University of Tasmania (2006-2012).