Dr Elke Mitchell

Dr Elke Mitchell is a Senior Research Fellow in the Global Health Program at the Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney. Her research spans the disciplines of anthropology, public health, Pacific studies and gender studies. Elke has over 13 years’ experience working in Fiji, and has also worked in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and with Indigenous communities in Australia. Her work has focused on HIV and other STIs, adolescent pregnancy and young parenthood, family planning, maternal health, abortion, sexual violence, reproductive coercion, infertility, Indigenous health and neglected tropical diseases.

Her current research projects include a study funded by NHMRC evaluating the impact of community treatment of STIs to improve perinatal and reproductive health outcomes in Fiji, research in the Solomon Islands and Fiji on community beliefs and practices towards scabies and acceptability of mass drug administration for scabies control, and research exploring the sexual health needs of young Aboriginal LGBTQ+ people.

Elke has published in high-profile international journals including Culture Health and Sexuality, Medical Anthropology, Men and Masculinities, Violence Against Women, Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific, and BMC Public Health. Elke has received academic awards and fellowships including the Kirby Institute Emerging Investigator Award (2018), the Graduate Women Victoria William and Elizabeth Fisher Scholarship (2013) and the Australian Awards Endeavour Research Fellowship (2012).

Elke is a member of the Australian Anthropological Society, Australian Association for Pacific Studies and Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania. Beyond her position at UNSW Sydney, Elke is an honorary Senior Fellow in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne.