Associate ProfessorSerene Yoong

My research focuses on developing implementation strategies and methodological innovations that improve how evidence-based prevention programs are translated into policy and practice. I integrate implementation science, systems science and co-design principles to understand how interventions can be implemented, scaled and sustained within complex real-world systems. Partnership is central to this work, with governments, health services and community organisations engaged throughout the research process to ensure implementation strategies are relevant, feasible, scalable and responsive to policy and practice priorities.

Over the past decade, my research has evolved in response to key practice and methodological questions in implementation science. Initially, this focused on understanding how to support health promtion and public health practitioners and organisations to implement evidence-based child health promotion programs effectively in community settings. This research identified implementation barriers and enablers and generated evidence on effective, scalable implementation strategies that improved delivery of evidence-based prevention programs in Australia.

As evidence on effective strategies accumulated, my research expanded to also strengthen the methodological foundations of implementation science. This included developing implementation measures, methodological guidance and evidence synthesis methods that strengthen the design, conduct and evaluation of implementation research and are now used internationally to support high-quality implementation research.

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Most recently, my research has shifted towards addressing one of implementation science's emerging priorities: designing implementation approaches that adapt to dynamic and changing contexts. By integrating systems science with implementation science, I am developing the next generation of adaptive methods that enable continuous learning, context-responsive decision-making and more equitable delivery of evidence-based prevention programs within complex health systems.