The University of Newcastle, Australia

Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour (PRCHB)

The Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour (PRCHB) uses intervention and service delivery to promote healthy behaviours and good quality healthcare across communities.

Led by its highly experienced Director, Professor John Wiggers, the PRCHB brings together a number of separate research groups to harness their combined wealth of research expertise. The major groups include:

  • Hunter New England Population Health (HNEPH)
  • Hunter Medical Research Institution (HMRI)
  • Health Behaviour Research Collaborative (HBRC)
  • Physical Health in Mental Illness (PHiMI)
  • Mental Health Research, Evaluation, Analysis and Dissemination (MH-READ)
  • Discipline of Health Behaviour Sciences
  • The School of Psychology
  • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB)

The Goals of the PRCHB are to increase understanding of, and solutions for:

  1. Reducing preventable risk factors for communicable and non-communicable diseases
  2. Improving health and psychosocial outcomes for people affected by chronic and other diseases
  3. Improving the effective translation of evidence into policy and practice by health and other services

The PRCHB combines researchers from a variety of fields to carry out high quality, intervention-focused health behaviour research targeting key public health issues.

Contact the PRCHB here for more information.

Funding for better outcomes for elderly after hip surgery

News • 14 Oct 2020

Funding for better outcomes for elderly after hip surgery

With hip fracture posing a major risk of death in people over 50, a new study aims to establish evidence… Read more
Growing numbers of health students choose to “go rural” in 2021

News • 12 Aug 2020

Growing numbers of health students choose to “go rural” in 2021

The University of Newcastle’s Department of Rural Health has seen a significant jump in the number of allied health students… Read more
Smoking increases risk of complications after surgery, joint WHO study finds

News • 21 Jan 2020

Smoking increases risk of complications after surgery, joint WHO study finds

People who smoke cigarettes are at a significantly higher risk of post-surgical complications including heart and lung injuries, infections and… Read more
Pre-schoolers, teens and Indigenous women the focus for heart health research funding

News • 30 Oct 2019

Pre-schoolers, teens and Indigenous women the focus for heart health research funding

Three Hunter researchers will focus on helping Australians have better heart health by investigating the causes, treatment and prevention of… Read more
$10 million funding boost for local health researchers

News • 30 Aug 2019

$10 million funding boost for local health researchers

More than $10 million has been awarded to further world-class, solution-based research at the University of Newcastle, Hunter Medical Research… Read more
Rob Sanson-Fisher sitting on a seat

Cutting health risks

Laureate Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher is a population health researcher who has had a major influence on many aspects of medical practice.
Dr Rebecca Wyse

Technological travails and smaller scales

Dr Rebecca Wyse is a behavioural scientist with the career objective of reversing increasing population rates of childhood obesity.
Dr Luke Wolfenden

Lifestyle as medicine

Dr Luke Wolfenden’s research into the modifiable risks of chronic health conditions and injury is helping the community to improve their overall wellbeing.

Contact us

Professor John Wiggers

Professor John Wiggers

Enquiries