Dr Elke Mitchell

Dr Elke Mitchell is an ARC DECRA Fellow and 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 14 years’ experience working in Fiji, and has also worked in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and with Indigenous communities in Australia. 

Her current research projects include an ARC funded study exploring how infertility and involuntary childlessness are experienced and managed within couples, families, communities and (in)formal health systems in Fiji, a NHMRC funded study evaluating the impact of community treatment of STIs to improve perinatal and reproductive health outcomes in Fiji, a NHMRC funded study co-designing adolescent-responsive contraceptive care solutions to reduce unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion in Indonesia, and ongoing research in the Solomon Islands and Fiji exploring community beliefs and practices towards neglected tropical diseases.

Elke has published in high-profile international journals including Culture Health and Sexuality, Medical Anthropology, Men and Masculinities, Violence Against Women, Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific, PLoS Global Public Health and BMC Public Health. Elke has received academic awards and fellowships including an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) (2025-2027), Kirby Institute Emerging Investigator Award (2018), Graduate Women Victoria William and Elizabeth Fisher Scholarship (2013) and 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.