Rate My Professor Alexandra Bhatti

Alexandra Bhatti is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences at Macquarie University. She predominantly teaches in the Master of Public Health program, including courses such as Foundations of Public Health, Innovation in Leadership, Teamwork and Advocacy, Professional Practice, and Public Health Capstone. With over seven years of experience as a clinical physiotherapist in public and private sectors, Bhatti transitioned to public health, accumulating a decade of work in organizations including NSW Health, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the National eHealth Transition Authority, and the Economist Intelligence Unit in the UK. Her areas of expertise encompass immunisation, policy, tobacco control, eHealth, health research analysis, and dissemination of complex health information to diverse audiences. She integrates this practical experience into her teaching to provide authentic, real-world perspectives. Bhatti earned a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy from the University of Sydney in 2004 and a Master of International Public Health with Merit in 2009 from the same university. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy at Macquarie University, focusing her research on public health advocacy in pedagogy and practice, using climate and health as a case study.

Bhatti's research specializations lie in public health advocacy within education and practice. Notable publications include 'Advocacy in public health curricula: exploring gaps and identifying strategies for strengthening teaching public health advocacy' (Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2026, with A.J. Bhatti et al.), 'Towards an international research agenda for public health advocacy: practice, preparedness and knowledge gaps' (PLOS Global Public Health, 2026, with K. Cullerton et al.), 'Co-designing solutions to tackle food insecurity in higher education settings: a scoping review' (Public Health Nutrition, 2025, with T. Scutts et al.), 'Exploring Australian news media portrayals of sustainable and plant-based diets' (Nutrients, 2024, with R. Ronto et al.), and 'Can an authentic assessment task improve the health behaviours of undergraduate students?' (Education Sciences, 2023, with J. Meincke et al.). Her contributions to teaching excellence have been recognized with multiple awards, including Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning from the Australian Awards for University Teaching (2020 individual; 2021 team), the Early Career Teaching Award from the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia (2021), Highly Commended Learning and Teaching Award from the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences (2020), Finalist in the Australian Financial Review National Higher Education Awards for Teaching and Learning Excellence (2023 team), and a Fellowship from the UK Higher Education Academy (2019). Bhatti continues to serve as a freelance health research analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.