Rakhi Dandona, PhD
What do you do at the Centre?
I lead the Centre and shape its overall research direction, with a focus on understanding the burden of injuries, who is most affected, and what can be done to prevent them. I bring together epidemiological, population-level and lived-experience research to look beyond injury events to their wider human impact—including disability, recovery, bereavement and the experiences of families and those providing care. A key part of my role is building collaborations across disciplines and sectors, developing new areas of research, and ensuring that the evidence we generate can inform prevention, policy and stronger systems of care.
What draws you to this work?
My journey into injury research began with lived experience, which made me recognise both the profound impact an injury can have on people and families, and how little attention injury prevention received as a public health priority. That experience has stayed with me throughout my work. I am motivated by the fact that so much of the suffering caused by injuries is preventable, yet behind every estimate is a person, a family, and often a much longer story of disability, recovery, caregiving or loss. I want our research to make these experiences visible, understand who is most affected and why, and generate evidence that leads to better prevention, recovery and care.