Dr. Barbara Nattabi is a Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Coordinator at the School of Population and Global Health. She previously served at the Western Australian Centre for Rural Health (2010-2019) as a NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow (2014-2018). With over 20 years of experience as a medical doctor, public health researcher, and educator, Barbara has worked extensively in clinical settings, infectious disease research, and teaching in both post-conflict Northern Uganda and Australia.
Her current research focuses on sexually transmissible infections, health services reform, and quality improvement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sexual health care. Barbara is an Associate Investigator on the NHMRC Partnership Grant for the ATLAS network (2022-2026) and a Chief Investigator on the ARC Grant for "Roads to the Future: Infrastructure and New Development in Africa." She has secured $4.4 million in fellowships and grants, including $3.4 million in Category 1 funding.
Barbara's interests include COVID-19, HIV research, family violence, sexual and reproductive health, social determinants of health, stigma and discrimination, refugee and migrant health, and the impact of infrastructure on public health. She has significant experience in curriculum development, mentoring, and teaching, earning nominations for Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Barbara coordinates units in Health Program Evaluation and Epidemiology and Control of Communicable Disease and guest lectures across various programs. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
In addition to her academic contributions, Barbara is active in her School, University, and local community, serving on several committees and engaging with migrant communities. She has peer-reviewed for over 13 journals and NHMRC grants and has been invited more than 30 times to provide expert commentary on COVID-19 for local and international media. Barbara also contributes to expert panels and the UWA COVID-19 Expert Series.

SPGH Postgraduate Coordinator

Unit Coordinator, Health Program Evaluation (PUBH5705)

Unit Coordinator, Epidemiology and Control of Communicable Disease (PUBH5761)

Lecturer, War on Pandemics (PUBHM001)

Focus on HIV, COVID-19, sexually transmitted infections including chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis, and health systems reform to control STI transmission

COVID-19 and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

Sexually Transmitted Infections and Blood Borne Viruses including HIV

Primary health care

Health services research

Quality improvement of primary health care

Rural health services

Rural health education

International AIDS Society

UWA Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN)

UWA Academic Staff Consultative Committee

Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM)

UWA Women in Science Community of Practice

VaxPol Lab, University of Western Australia

African Professionals of Australia (APA)

Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF)

Community of Practice for Action on HIV and Mobility (CoPAHM)

WA Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Network (SiREN) Interest Group

Health Program Evaluation (PUBH5705)

Epidemiology and Control of Communicable Disease (PUBH5761)

War on Pandemics (PUBHM001)

Epidemiology 1 (PUBH4403)

Integrated Medical Systems (IMED3111)

Integrated Medical Systems (IMED3112)

Health and Illness in Human Populations (PUBH1101)

Foundations of Global Health (PUBH1102)

Vokes R, Spencer R, Woldeyes Y, Nattabi B, Adusei-Asante K. (2023-2026) Roads to the Future: Infrastructure and the New Development in Africa.

Nattabi B. (2021-2022). Bridging the gap in quality of care: System oriented approaches for the control of sexually transmissible infections among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Lopez, D., Nattabi, B., & Jenkins, S. (2019-2021). Process evaluation: Real-world data to evaluate the implementation of a randomised control community pulmonary rehabilitation trial for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Thompson, S. C., Moran, M., Fisher, C., Martin, K., Nattabi, B., & Fordham, H. (2019). Conversations for Change: accelerating efforts to prevent family violence

Nattabi B, Gudka S, Ward J, Rumbold A. Quality improvement interventions for improving the detection and management of curable sexually transmitted infections in primary care – Cochrane Review.

Nattabi B, Rumbold A, Matthews V, Gibson-Helm M, Boyle J, Larkins S, et al. Determining factors associated with sexually transmissible infection and blood borne virus screening in pregnancy at Indigenous primary health centres