Associate ProfessorKevin Mc Namara

Kevin Mc Namara is Deputy Director (Research) at the School of Medicine's Deakin Rural Health (DRH). In this role he leads key research functions and innovation at DRH, relating to strategy, governance, research impact, communications, staff development, departmental reporting, and research capacity building. As a place-based research group, his role at DRH integrates the development and maintenance of research partnerships with health and community services across western Victoria. 

He is also a Steering Committee member for the Centre for Australian Research into Access (CARA), a collaboration with Grampians Health, and for the Rural Health University Network (RHUN), two key Deakin University platforms that support an increased evidence base and enhanced research capacity to guide equity-focused health service innovation and health policy reform.

Kevin leads the Health Systems Sustainability Research Theme at DRH, under which sits several teams that are committed to undertaking research that achieves sustainable and scalable impact for the benefit of rural and regional health services and communities. This has been a central theme of his research for over 20 years, including his PhD which examined the feasibility of implementing cardiovascular disease prevention models in community pharmacies. He has published over 130 peer review manuscripts, and has been an investigator for grants totalling over $45m, with research focusing on a range of complex healthcare challenges affecting consumer-centredness and quality of care.