Rate My Professor Alyce Barnes

Dr. Alyce Barnes is a dynamic early and mid-career researcher and educator at the National Centre of Implementation Science, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Teaching (Honours), and Bachelor of Physical Education from the University of Newcastle. Her career began as a physical education teacher, where she identified gaps in children's confidence and competence in sport skills, sparking her commitment to health promotion intervention research. With over 15 years of experience, she has secured more than $1,600,000 in research funding. As a co-investigator, she has contributed to world-first physical activity interventions targeting child and family healthy lifestyles, including the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered (DADEE) program, which improves girls’ physical activity, fundamental movement skills, and father-daughter relationships and has expanded internationally to the UK and Europe. She leads the implementation and sustainment of Physical Activity 4 Everyone (PA4E1) in secondary schools and has worked on Healthy Youngsters, Healthy Dads (HYHD) and Mothers And Daughters Exercising 4 Life (MADE 4 Life), addressing adolescent inactivity, family habits, and gender equity in physical activity.

Dr. Barnes has produced 27 journal articles and 13 conference publications, with over 1,000 citations. Key works include "Twelve-month outcomes of a community-based, father-daughter physical activity program delivered by trained facilitators" (2024, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity), "Replicability, adaptability and long-term impact of the ‘Healthy Youngsters, Healthy Dads’ program in Newcastle, Australia" (2024, Health Promotion International), "Impact of a Father–Child, Community-Based Healthy Lifestyle Program: Qualitative Perspectives from the Family Unit" (2023, Journal of Child and Family Studies), "Impact of the ‘Healthy Youngsters, Healthy Dads’ program on physical activity and other health behaviours: a randomised controlled trial" (2022, BMC Public Health), and "Establishing Effectiveness of a Community-based, Physical Activity Program for Fathers and Daughters: A Randomized Controlled Trial" (2022, Annals of Behavioral Medicine). Her contributions have earned the 2025 Lake Macquarie City Ambassador and Lake Mac Sports Leader of the Year awards, School of Medicine and Public Health UON External International Collaboration Grant (2024), a keynote in the University of Newcastle’s Looking Ahead Lecture Series – Women in Sport (2023), and HMRI Research Team Award for DADEE (2021). She fosters multidisciplinary collaborations with UK and USA partners to promote community health equity.