Biography

I am an early career post-doctoral Research Associate in the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle. Before starting my PhD at the University of Queensland in 2015, I worked as a Public health Dentist in India. I am currently involved with projects that address smoking cessation and healthy lifestyle in Australian Indigenous people. I have a background in Tobacco control, Public health and Dentistry and a passion for scientific communication and writing. My PhD research focused on health communication about tobacco cessation and harm reduction advice for smokers with mental illness. I have worked on developing health promotion resources for smokers with mental illness and researched how social media can be used for delivering smoking cessation and harm reduction information to smokers with mental illness. Currently, I am working on designing interventions to reduce passive smoking and improve nutrition among the Indigenous Australian population. I also have a keen interest in researching e-health interventions, especially virtual reality mental health tool for the management of dental phobia.

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Ratika identifies as culturally and linguistically diverse.