DrJiani Ma

I am an implementation scientist and member of the Deakin Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition. My research addresses a fundamental challenge in public health: how to ensure effective policies and interventions are successfully implemented and sustained to improve population health. I develop implementation and systems science methods that help governments, public health services and community organisations translate evidence into policy and practice, with a particular focus on physical activity, nutrition and chronic disease prevention.

My work spans the design, implementation and evaluation of interventions in complex real-world systems. I specialise in developing and applying implementation science methodologies that are transferable across disciplines, working collaboratively across health, education, sport, government and community sectors. My current research integrates implementation science, systems science and artificial intelligence to improve how implementation strategies are designed, tested and adapted, with the aim of making implementation research more efficient, equitable and impactful.

Beyond my research, I contribute to building implementation science capability across Deakin and internationally. I lead professional development initiatives that support researchers in applying implementation science methods and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to strengthen the translation of research into policy and practice.

Internationally, I co-chair the Asia-Pacific Society for Physical Activity Special Interest Group on Scaling Up Physical Activity and the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases Equity in Implementation Research Group. Through these roles, I work with researchers, practitioners and policymakers worldwide to advance implementation science methods, promote equitable implementation, and strengthen the scale-up of evidence-based interventions.