Dr Kathryn Fortnum
Researcher biography
Dr Kathryn Fortnum is an Early Career Researcher working as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Health and Wellbeing Centre for Research Innovation (School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences), a collaboration between The University of Queensland and Health and Wellbeing Queensland; and affiliate researcher in the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies (UQ). As an ESSA Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Dr Fortnum has extensive experience working with children and young people living with mental illness, neurological conditions, and neurodevelopmental disorders across inpatient and community settings.
Her research focuses on enhancing physical health, mental wellbeing, and participation outcomes for children and young people, with a commitment to improving equitable access to the tools and opportunities that foster lifelong health and resilience.
Dr Fortnum's areas of expertise include:
- Physical activity and physical literacy
- Clinical and applied research
- Qualitative methodologies
- Systematic reviews and evidence synthesis
- Co-design and participatory approaches including engaging consumers with lived experience
- Program design and evaluation
- Rapid translation of research into evidence-based practice through partnerships with community and clinical services
- Implementation science, centred on scaling effective interventions into real-world contexts (emerging)
Her work aims to bridge the gap between evidence and practice, producing research that is both scientifically robust and directly meaningful for the individuals, families, clinicians, and organisations she collaborates with.