Young Men’s Digital Health Study

A Research Collaboration Between The University of Queensland, Flinders University, and IBSC

Research Team

Garth StahlGarth Stahl

Associate Professor Garth Stahl is based in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. His research interests focus on the relationship between education and society, sociocultural studies of education, student identities, equity/inequality, and social change. Currently, his research projects and publications encompass theoretical and empirical studies of youth, sociology of schooling in a neoliberal age, gendered subjectivities, equity, and difference, as well as educational reform.

He holds a PhD in education from University of Cambridge, a master’s degree in international education from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and English from Indiana University. He is a member and former special interest group (SIG) convener for the Australian Association of Researchers in Education (AARE) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Yang ZhaoYang Zhao

Dr Yang Zhao is a social anthropologist at The University of Queensland whose work sits at the intersection of masculinity, health, and digital media. Since 2015 he has conducted long-term ethnography in Central Asia and, since 2024, comparative fieldwork in East Africa. He examines how gendered inequalities shape care, risk, help-seeking, and interactions with health systems, on- and offline. His current projects engage men and boys in coproducing practical approaches to well-being and mental health and trace how online cultures of masculinity influence everyday health behaviors, including during outbreaks.

   

   

 

Rohann IrvingRohann Irving

Dr Rohann Irving is a research fellow in young men’s digital health at Flinders University. He received his PhD from The University of Queensland, where his thesis examined the increasing normalization of sports betting in young men’s domestic spaces and intimate relationships. His doctoral research combined qualitative interviews, digital research methods, and historical analysis to explore the gendered dimensions of everyday gambling. Before entering academia, Irving worked as a senior research officer at the Australian Gambling Research Centre, based within the Australian Institute of Family Studies. His research explores the intersections of masculinities, sport, and gambling, with a focus on the role of digital technologies in shaping young men’s everyday lives and leisure practices.

Elizabeth EdwardsElizabeth Edwards

Associate Professor Elizabeth Edwards works in the School of Education at The University of Queensland where she is currently the director of research. She is a registered teacher and psychologist, her research spans education and psychology, and her collaborators are national and international experts in the area of student well-being. Edwards has an international reputation for contributing to understanding the link between anxiety, attention, and memory. Her work supports the notion that an inability to efficiently process information and maintain concentration plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders.

James SmithJames Smith

Professor James Smith is a Matthew Flinders Professor (health and social equity) and co-director of the FHMRI Health Equity Impact Program at Flinders University. He is an applied social health researcher with 20+ years’ experience working in rural and remote health policy, practice, and research contexts in South Australia and the Northern Territory, with a particular focus on improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and education outcomes. Prior to commencing at Flinders, he held professorial roles at both Menzies School of Health Research and Charles Darwin University in areas relating to alcohol and other drugs, men's health, and Indigenous higher education. Smith is recognized nationally and globally for his expertise in both health promotion and men's health. He is the current global vice president of scientific affairs for the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, immediate past editor-in-chief of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia, a fellow and life member of the Australian Health Promotion Association, and a fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management. He is the deputy chair of the Association for Alcohol and Other Drugs Agencies Northern Territory. He holds academic status at Menzies, University of Queensland, Deakin University, University of Michigan, and University of Saskatchewan.

Murray DrummondMurray Drummond

Professor Murray Drummond is a research professor in sport, health, and physical activity at Flinders University. He is the leader of the  Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy (SHAPE) Research. His research interests are based around qualitative sport and health research with a particular interest in gender and sports, including women and sport and masculinities and body image. Drummond has published widely on issues relating to masculinities and health, gay men's bodies, and prostate cancer among gay men and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) men. He is regularly invited to present his work nationally and internationally and is a current member of the Women in Sport Taskforce for the South Australian government. His current research includes three significant research projects on girls, women, and LGBTIQ+ community in sports, as well as a longitudinal research project with boys from early childhood through to adolescence investigating issues around masculinities within sport and health.

Mair UnderwoodMair Underwood

Dr Mair Underwood is an anthropologist in the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland who specializes in bodies. In particular she explores how body modifications (such as tattoo or bodybuilding) are used to create, reflect, and disrupt social boundaries such as those of gender and class. She is especially interested in the social lives of image- and performance-enhancing drugs: how they acquire meaning through social interactions and how they alter social interactions.

She also has an interest in assessment practice and has conducted research into assessment techniques that promote student engagement and academic integrity and compiled them into a searchable database called the UQ Assessment Ideas Factory.

   

   

   

 

   

Mel OpozdaMel Opozda

Dr Mel Opozda is a health psychologist and research fellow in Men’s Mental Health within the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University, located on Kaurna land in Tarntanya/Adelaide. Her research focuses on the mental health, well-being, and health behaviors of boys, young men, and men, including areas such as health-care access, substance use, and gambling. She works on developing and evaluating models of care, support, and health promotion that align with the preferences, priorities, and circumstances of boys, young men, and men, with a particular focus on digital health spaces.