Rate My Professor Colin Bel

Professor Colin Bell is a Professor of Public Health in the School of Medicine at Deakin University. He serves as Discipline Lead for Public Health Medicine in the Doctor of Medicine course, leads the Public Health Medicine theme, and co-heads the WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at the Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE). Additionally, he leads the global obesity stream at GLOBE. Bell earned his Doctorate by Research from the University of Auckland, Master of Science and Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Otago, and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Learning and Teaching. Previously, he was Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle from 2007 to 2017 and holds an adjunct professorship at Fiji National University College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

Bell's research specializations encompass public health nutrition, global health, obesity prevention, childhood obesity, nutritional epidemiology, community nutrition, disease prevention, food systems, intervention design, delivery and evaluation, health promotion, food and nutrition, and physical activity. Over 20 years, he has worked in preschool and school settings, demonstrating that multi-strategy interventions prevent unhealthy weight gain and improve food security for children in Australia and the Pacific. Current efforts focus on implementation and scaling up co-designed interventions targeting children’s health and wellbeing in Pacific countries. His Google Scholar profile records over 11,600 citations. Key publications include a chapter on 'Obesity Prevention' in Public Health Nutrition: from principles to practice, 'Whole of Systems Trial of Prevention Strategies for Childhood Obesity (WHO STOPS childhood obesity)' (2017), 'Process and Impact Evaluation of the Romp & Chomp Obesity Prevention Intervention in Early Childhood Settings' (2012), and 'School Canteens: Using Ripples to Create a Wave of Healthy Eating' (2005). Bell received the Deakin Vice-Chancellor's Award for International Research Collaborations and a VicHealth Public Health Research Fellowship providing $80,000 in 2003. He led the integration of public health medicine into Deakin's MD curriculum, aligning with standards from the Australian Medical Council and Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.