Dr Julia McCartan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (FMNHS). Julia is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Since 2016, she has represented Nutrition, Dietetics and Food on the FMNHS Indigenous Health Equity Education Committee. Julia works in partnership with the Monash Gukwonderuk Indigenous Health Unit to support research and evaluation of Indigenous health equity curriculum in the Faculty. 

Julia's doctoral research utilised critical inquiry to investigate non-Indigenous people's power and positioning in Indigenous contexts, illustrating examples from academia, policymaking, the food industry and health professional practice.

Julia applies critical methodological and pedagogical approaches to her research and education, expertise honed during a 3-year Senior Research Fellowship with the Monash Centre for Scholarship in Health Education (MCSHE). She regularly facilitates education and training to health professions educators and practitioners on topics related to critical inquiry, critical reflexivity, critical allyship, anti-racism and healthcare equity. She is a current member of the Dietitians Australia Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group.

Julia began at Monash University in 2013 as a research officer for a three-year longitudinal study of food cost across Victorian communities. She brings practice experience in public health nutrition, health promotion project management and food systems research to her Monash roles. Over her professional career, which spans over two decades, she has worked in the community health, local government, non-government and higher education sectors in metropolitan and regional Victoria, Central Australia, Sydney and the Kingdom of Tonga.

Julia is currently the chief examiner for two units: 

• Bachelor of Nutrition Science: NUT1002 Evaluating the Evidence Nutrition and Population Health
• Master of Nutrition and Dietetics: NUT5001 Introduction to Nutrition and Dietetics Practice 

In 2016, together with colleague Dr Liza Barbour, Julia designed and continues to teach a compulsory Bachelor of Nutrition Science unit NUT3006: Food Systems and Planetary Health, the first of its kind in Australia. 

Julia's diverse research interests include: 

• Critical inquiry methodologies 
• Critical approaches to health professions education  
• Settler colonialism and anti-racism
• Food system sustainability and planetary health 
• Health equity 
• Household food and nutrition security 
• Food cost and affordability