Dr Julie Hennegan
Senior Research Fellow
Working groups
Background
Dr Julie Hennegan is a mixed-methods researcher specialising in global adolescent and women's health. She explores the social and environmental determinants of health, and the design and evaluation of complex social interventions.
Julie's work focuses on menstrual health, sexual and reproductive health including rights, and gender dimensions of water, sanitation, and hygiene services. She has led and contributed to research across high- middle- and low-income country settings, with a focus on East Africa. Building the evidence base to understand and improve menstrual health, Julie led the development of new measures to capture menstrual health needs. She has advanced the ongoing development of national indicators and measures to monitor menstrual health, and the application of evidence synthesis methods to progress theory and research.
Julie joined Burnet Institute in 2020, following a postdoctoral fellowship and faculty appointment at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA). She completed her DPhil at the University of Oxford (UK) in 2017.
Qualifications
- 2017: DPhil, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- 2014: MSc Evidence Based Social Intervention, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- 2010: BPsySc (hons I), University of Queensland, Australia
Appointments
- 2020 - present: Honorary Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
- 2020 - present: Adjunct Research Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
Awards
- 2024: Burnet Institute Gust-McKenzie Medal
Positions
- 2023–2025: Co-Head, Global Adolescent Health Working Group
- 2021–present: Senior Research Fellow, Burnet Institute, Australia
- 2020–2021: Research Fellow, Burnet Institute, Australia
- 2018–2020: Research Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
- 2017–2018: Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
Burnet publications
View 40 moreAdolescent boys’ sociocultural beliefs and attitudes toward menstruation in selected high schools in Ghana: Mediation and moderation effect of knowledge
PLOS Global Public Health
Israel Wuresah et al
Taking menstruation health and hygiene seriously: a qualitative exploration of the challenges and facility requirements of female adolescent athletes in Bangladesh
BMC Women s Health
Syeda Nurunnahar et al
Menstrual blood and ritual beliefs: a qualitative study on menstrual health and hygiene practices among senior high school girls in Volta Region, Ghana
Reproductive Health
Sitsofe Gbogbo et al
Current projects
Supporting menstrual health, product choice and sustainability in Australia
An average menstruating person will use 5,000 to 15,000 disposable pads and tampons over their lifetime. Concerns about the environmental sustainability of these single-use products has seen increased attention to the opportunities presented by reusable technologies such as menstrual cups, reusable pads and period underwear.
Adolescent Menstrual Health: Tracing the impacts of unmet needs in Bangladesh
The AMEHC study responds to the urgent need for better data and evidence to understand adolescent girls' menstrual health and quantify the impact this has on girls' lives.
Past projects
Understanding Pathways to Adolescent Pregnancy in Southeast Asia
We aim to improve understanding of the drivers and pathways to adolescent pregnancy in Southeast Asia.
Engaging private sector for adolescent health service delivery in Asia and Pacific
The project aimed to identify opportunities in East Asia and the Pacific to improve access to quality health services.
Strengthening mental health and psychosocial support systems and services for children and adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific
This study identified mental health and psychosocial support systems and services for children and adolescents in the East Asia and Pacific region.
