Briony Hill

Briony Hill (Glidden) completed her PhD in Health Psychology in 2015 at Deakin University, Australia, exploring a psychosocial and behaviour change approach to preventing excessive gestational weight gain. For her thesis, she was awarded an Alfred Deakin Medal for Doctoral Thesis and an Australian Psychological Society (APS) Health College Award for Excellent Higher Degree Thesis in Health Psychology. Briony received an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in 2016 and is currently an NHMRC Early Career Fellow (2016-2021) in the area of preconception wellbeing based at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation.

Briony's research interests include maternal wellbeing - in particular, encouraging healthy weight, obesity prevention, and healthy lifestyle behaviours before (preconception), during (antenatal) and after pregnancy (postpartum). Briony also has a strong interest in health behaviour change and psychosocial wellbeing (including depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, body image, and coping skills) and understanding the mechanisms that lead to the attainment of healthy lifestyles and weight for women during during their reproductive years. She is an advocate for co-design methods in her research, to ensure relevant stakeholders have their say in the development and implementation of interventions to meet their needs.

Briony is currently supervising students across the field of health in preconception and pregnancy (HIPP), with a focus on lifestyle, behaviour change, and psychosocial wellbeing. Enquiries for PhD supervision are welcome.