Associate Professor Karen Block

Unit Head, Health and Migration Unit

A/Prof Karen Block leads the Migration and Health Unit in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. She is also Deputy Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and Academic Convenor of the Anti-racism Hallmark Research Initiative. For the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, she leads work across the priority areas of Migration and Mobility and Community Engaged and Coproductive research. Her research includes a range of projects involving immigrant and refugee-background young people, women and families focused on anti-racism, health inequalities, and gender-based violence. Karen has extensive expertise in working collaboratively with migrant and refugee communities in Australia to co-design and implement research including in contexts of gender-based violence, humanitarian emergencies, and experiences of racism. She has particular expertise in qualitative and creative methods, participatory action research, and collaborative knowledge translation.