Caroline Miller

Prof Caroline Miller is Director of the Health Policy Centre, based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, located in Adelaide, Australia.

She is also an NHMRC Emerging Leader and Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow at the University of Adelaide School of Public Health.  She has qualifications in behavioural science and economics; her PhD focussed on social marketing in public health. 

The Health Policy Centre delivers evidence to inform public health policy and health promotion interventions to reduce the preventable burdens of non-communicable disease. It specialises in tobacco control, obesity prevention and alcohol research. Currently the Centre is also leading a rapid COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis service to support South Australian and Australian responses to COVID-19.

Prof Miller is most known for her work in tobacco control, in which she has specialised for over 20 years. She was one of a select group of research scientists advising the Australian Government on world-leading tobacco plain packaging measures. She led elements and contributed to the larger research program which underpinned the laws, and its successful defence against international legal challenges. She works internationally in tobacco control. Prof Miller is highly experienced in the development and implementation of effective public health campaigns and communications to change health behaviours, most notably smoking behaviour, but also obesity prevention, sun protection, and cancer screening. 

Prof Miller is currently leading a program of research applying a public health framework to the issue of obesity prevention, with a specialist focus on over consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages, including artificially-sweetened beverages.

The Centre also undertakes research in patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in prostate cancer and breast cancer. The Centre manages the SA Cancer Clinical Registry Central Coordination Unit and works in partnership with the NT Population Cancer Registry. Health Translation SA’s No Australians Dying of Bowel Cancer Project, is based in the Centre.

Caroline leads SAHMRI’s Community and Consumer Engagement strategy.

Highlights of her career include:

• 98 peer-reviewed publications, 1900 citations (total Google Scholar), 130 conference presentations and 130 reports for government.
• CIA on $11.5m of competitive funding, with $19m awarded over all research projects
• NHMRC Emerging Leader
• Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow
• Cancer Council SA Principal Research Fellow
• Doctoral Research Medal for PhD in Medicine (Public Health)
• Executive Dean's Award for Research Excellence (mid-career)
• Council Member, Aus NZ Obesity Society
• Member National Expert Reference Group on Tobacco
• Past member Research Advisory Committee, National Breast Cancer Foundation
• Past member Australian Expert Committee on Tobacco Plain Packaging
• Past chair of Cancer Council Australia and National Heart Foundation Tobacco Issues Committee
• Past member, Premier's Taskforce Healthy Kid's Menus 
• Past President of the Public Health Association (SA Branch), Convenor of PHAA National Conference and member of PHAA national executive

Prof Miller currently supervises 2 PhD and 1 MPhil students.