Caroline Finch

Caroline Finch AO is an Australian sports injury epidemiologist and sports injury prevention researcher. Her research has been adopted and used to directly inform safety policy by Government Departments of Sport and Health, health promotion and injury prevention agencies, and peak sports bodies both within Australia and internationally. Her injury prevention research has been applied to falls in older people, road safety, workplace safety and injuries in children.

Education Finch graduated from Monash University, Melbourne in 1983 with a BSc (Hons, 1st Class) majoring in statistics. In 1985 La Trobe University awarded her a MSc in Statistics. In 1995 she was awarded a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Monash University for a thesis titled: Fasting plasma glucose distributions and their implications for the diagnostic criteria for non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in Pacific populations.

At high school Finch was interested in disease prevention. As an undergraduate student she realised this interest could be combined with her strong mathematics and statistics skills which led to her career as an epidemiologist and biostatistician.

Career Finch began work as a Researcher at the Monash University Accident Research Centre training in injury research from 1992 until 1997

Finch became the Robert HT Smith Professor and Personal Chair at Federation University, Ballarat, Australia in 2013. In December 2017 she was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia.

Finch has held positions as a sports injury prevention adviser to the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, the Australian Sports Commission, Sports Medicine Australia, Sport and Recreation Victoria, Department of Human Services (Victoria), the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, The Australian Football League and other national and state sports bodies. a Member of the Concussion Advisory Group for World Rugby, since 2014, a Member of the Victorian Government Sports Injury Prevention Taskforce from 2011 to 2013 and a Member of the National Sports Safety Framework Committee in 1996, 1997 and 2003. and the Injury Prevention and Health Promotion BJSM Series and a member of the Editorial Boards of the international journals: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, Injury Epidemiology and Sports Medicine. She has published over 250 articles.

Awards Finch was awarded the 2015 International Distinguished Career Award by the American Public Health Association's (APHA) Injury Control and Emergency Health Services (ICEHS) Section. The award recognised her "outstanding dedication and leadership in injury/violence prevention and control and emergency health services internationally with contributions and achievements that have a significant and long term impact on the field".

In January 2018 Finch was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), "for distinguished service to sports medicine, particularly in the area of injury prevention, as an educator, researcher and author, and to the promotion of improved health in athletes and those who exercise." Data was also collected during the project focusing on concussion with the aim to understand and prevent head injuries within a community Australian football setting.

Helmets and headgear Since the mid 1990s Finch has carried out studies relating to use of helmets for both pedal and motor cyclists.

In 2013 Finch jointly published results of a study of associations between helmet use and brain injuries amongst injured pedal- and motor-cyclists. The study was carried out at the University of New South Wales, School of Risk and Safety Sciences under funding by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant: Pedal and Motor Cycle Helmet Performance Study. The project partners were: the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure and Transport, NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (NSW RTA), Transport Accident Commission Victoria, NRMA Motoring and Services, NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust and DVExperts International.

Finch has also been involved in research into the efficacy and methods of improvement of protective headgear in rugby union, rugby league, and Australian rules football.

Child safety Finch's research has also encompassed several aspects of child safety including vehicular safety restraints, parent/caregiver supervision and water safety.

Fall prevention in older adults Finch has been involved in research around falls prevention and implementation of fall prevention strategies in older people.