Dr Bushra Nasir

Research Fellow/Senior Research off

Medical School (RCS)
Faculty of Medicine
b.nasir@uq.edu.au
+61 7 4633 9768

Overview

Dr. Bushra Nasir is the Director of the Medical Research Futures Fund in Primary Health Care Digital Innovations - ID-INSPIRED and a mid-career researcher with a substantial career trajectory in health research. Her substantial career trajectory is evidenced by growing publication and research output metrics. Her expertise and instrumental involvement in multiple large-scale grants are demonstrated through multiple top-tier publications, media and news citations, and recognition in national and international policy documents. She has contributed to the development of several global health policy recommendation publications, including a World Health Organisation review investigating the retention of the health workforce in rural and remote areas. Her contribution to this discipline is further substantiated by her peer-review activities and international and national collaborations with wide outreach and engagement initiatives.

Her collaborative networking qualities contribute to numerous roles in various research committees, including as a previous Chair of the Faculty of Medicine Early Career Researcher Committee. Her work has also resulted in increased research capacity building in regional, rural areas across South East Queensland supporting clinicians, medical students and educators, and other healthcare service providers conducting clinical and epidemiological research projects. She is also a research mentor and member of several national organisations. Her ongoing leadership, management, networking, and knowledge expertise, contribute to the progress of research practices with academics, experts, and clinical scientists.

Research Interests

  • Epidemiology and Public Health
  • Chronic Disease
  • Mental Health
  • Rural Health

Research Impacts

Dr Nasir’s research has also significantly contributed to improving the health of rural Australians, especially Indigenous Australians. Her Q1 journal publication ‘Common mental disorders among Indigenous people living in regional, remote and metropolitan Australia: a cross-sectional study’(BMJ Open 8(6), 2018) for the first time, identified the prevalence of mental health disorders using a clinically validated diagnostic tool. Her publication ‘The risk of common mental disorders in Indigenous Australians experiencing traumatic life events’ (BJPsych Open 8 (1) e8, 2021) further identified the role of trauma and the prevalence of common mental disorders within this population. Her latest work has identified high rates of chronic disease for those with mental health disorders (under peer review) and signifies her important contributions to this area of research.

Dr Nasir has been instrumental in securing ~$9.3M in funding. She has made significant contributions to knowledge through translation, a significant project being the I-ASIST project, recently launched by Minister Ken Wyatt. I-ASIST is a world-first suicide intervention training project developed for Indigenous youth, in collaboration with industry partners LivingWorks Australia. Recently, she has secured funding through a Medical Research Future Fund in Primary Health Care Digital Innovations grant investigating Digital Health Transformation of Rural Primary Health Care Through an Innovative Digital Indigenous Primary Health Care Delivery Model called ID-INSPIRED, as well as an Early-Mid Career Researcher Medical Research Future Fund investigating Obstructive sleep apnoea diagnosis and management in First Nations communities using community co-design, local capacity building and place-based models for sustainable success. A recent NHRMC Ideas grant: 'Healing Spirit, Healing Minds: Co-designed healing program to promote social and emotional well-being' also exemplifies her commitment to improving mental and health well-being outcomes. As a result of her ongoing collaborations, both national and international, demonstrate her ongoing commitment to improving health outcomes for underserved populations.

Dr Nasir’s collaborative networking qualities contribute to being past Chair of the Faculty EMC Research Committee, and a member of two other university committees including the Darling Downs Health Innovation Resaerch Collaborative Commitee . She is also a supervisor for multiple PhD, MPhil, and HDR students. Dr Nasir’s exemplary discipline engagement and development of service delivery have contributed to developing national and international partnerships, particularly with industry partners (e.g., LivingWorks Australia and Suicide Prevention Australia and several Aboriginal Medical Services). She has memberships with the Australian and New Zealand Society of Mental Health (2015-current) and Suicide Prevention Australia (2017-current) and as a professional leader with the National Suicide Prevention Network (2015-current), as well as with regional and local Indigenous health and mental health committees that establish governance etiquette and research integrity. She also plays a key role in establishing community connections and relationships that help sustain ongoing research activities.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Griffith University

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Available Projects

  • Multiple projects in chronic disease, mental health and rural health related fields.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book Chapter

  • McGrail, Matthew, Nasir, Bushra and Fox, Jordan (2023). Populations at special health risk: rural populations. Reference module in biomedical sciences. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-323-99967-0.00091-0

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

  • Chater, Bruce , Nasir, Bushra , Hodgson, Lynette , Ridler, John and Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan, Srinivas (2022). Community Engaged Rural Health Projects – The University of Queensland. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand.

  • World Health Organisation Team, Strasser, Sarah, Austin, Marni, Bendotti, Hollie, Bourke, Gary, Campbell, David, Campbell, Narelle , Chater, Alan Bruce, Chong, Hwee Sin , Cribb, Jacqueline, Cumming, Kay, Doty, Barbara Jean, Eley, Diann, Erikson, Jay S., Florentis, Anastasia, Floss, Mayara, Goot, Katie, Greacen, Jane, Jonk, Yvonne , Khoo, Kean, Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan, Srinivas, Lamb, Margaret, Longenecker, Randall, McGrail, Matthew, Nasir, Bushra, Partanen, Riitta, Paterson, Davis , Rajapalisha, Dilum , Schmitz, David ... Tynan, Anna (2020). Retention of the health workforce in rural and remote areas: a systematic review. Human Resources for Health Observer Series No. 25 Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

  • Nasir, Bushra Farah (2013). Identifying envirogenomic signatures for predicting the clinical outcomes of Crohn's disease. PhD Thesis, School of Medical Sciences, Griffith University. doi: 10.25904/1912/1046

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Multiple projects in chronic disease, mental health and rural health related fields.