Alana Gall

Biography

Dr Alana Gall is a proud Truwulway woman, a Pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal) from the north-east coast of Lutruwita (Tasmania, Australia). Dr Gall is passionate about Indigenous Peoples' holistic health and wellbeing, globally. She believes that the wellbeing and identity of Indigenous Peoples are strongly centred around strong connections to Country/land, culture, spirituality and each other.

Dr Gall is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, in the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, at Southern Cross University, and an Honorary Research Fellow at both the University of Queensland and Menzies School of Health Research.

Research

At Southern Cross University, Dr Gall leads a research program that centres around First Peoples' Cultural Medicines in Australia, with the aims of protecting and preserving these medicines for future generations, including through international laws, and improving accessibility for all First Peoples' communities across Australia.

Dr Gall has over a decade of experience in research, research translation, community engagement, health education and a background in Nutritional Medicine. She has an extensive and broad knowledge in First Peoples'; health and wellbeing; Indigenous Traditional Medicines; qualitative, Indigenous and decolonising methodologies and methods (including co-design methods/methodology); PROMs/PREMs measure development, and; systematic, comprehensive and policy reviews. Dr Gall pioneered the use of individual yarns with a think-aloud component, called the ‘think-aloud yarn’, and co-developed the Key Principles to Co-Design with First Nations Peoples, which have informed the development of Cancer Australia's Australian Cancer Plan and underpin the implementation of the Our Mob our Cancer website (https://www.ourmobandcancer.gov.au/).

Current projects

• Lead Chief Investigator - Harnessing traditional medicines to support First Nations Australians holistic health and wellbeing – a policy targeted approach
• Lead Chief Investigator - Australian First Nations traditional medicine’s role in improving utilisation of palliative care for First Nations Elders and our old people
• Chief Investigator - What Matters to First Nations Kids: Co-designing a wellbeing measure for First Nations children aged 5-11 years (WM2K Project) - project lead: Dr Kate Anderson
• Chief Investigator - Improving Indigenous research capabilities: Building an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data commons - project lead: Professor Marcia Langton
• Chief Investigator - Supporting Healthy Lifestyle Choices to Promote Mental Health & Wellbeing of Indigenous Youth Aging-Out-of-Care in Urban Settings - project lead: Professor Gail Garvey
• Chief Investigator - A First Nations Cancer Cohort Study (CanCo) - project lead: Professor Gail Garvey