Alanna Sincovich

Alanna Sincovich

School of Public Health

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Alanna is a Senior Research Officer at the Telethon Kids Institute and an Adjunct Fellow in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. Her research takes a population health approach to ensuring all children are supported to reach their developmental potential.

Alanna has worked across a range of projects in Australia and internationally, spanning early childhood education, population monitoring of children’s development, child and adolescent wellbeing, stunting and school feeding interventions, early years pedagogy, school readiness assessment, parenting interventions, as well as health and development among children with a culturally and linguistically diverse background, and children experiencing disability or complex needs. Internationally, Alanna consults for the World Bank, working with global teams on the design, implementation, and impact evaluation of child health, development, and education interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

Completed in 2022, Alanna’s PhD research sought to improve population measurement and monitoring of children's early development in low- and middle-income countries. Her project focused on the early Human Capability Index, capturing holistic early child development across diverse cultures. Alanna coordinated adaptation of instrumentation to local context, in country training and data collection, and analysis and reporting on data into scientific outputs and policy briefs, leading to significantly greater investments in child health and development in these countries.

Alanna brings expertise in research design, program evaluation, evidence synthesis, cross-cultural research, psychometric assessment of measurement instruments, and research translation to inform policy. She sits on the Public Health Association of Australia SA Branch Executive Committee and has a strong commitment to public health advocacy. Alanna is passionate about student mentoring and is available for supervision of postgraduate students.

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2023 - ongoing Adjunct Fellow University of Adelaide
    2022 - ongoing Senior Research Officer Telethon Kids Institute
    2015 - ongoing Consultant (Early Child Development) World Bank
    2013 - 2022 Research Assistant Telethon Kids Institute

  • Awards and Achievements
    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2022 Scholarship Child and Youth Health Conference Scholarship Public Health Association of Australia Australia -
    2022 Award Student Prize, Population Health Congress Australasian Epidemiological Association Australia -
    2022 Award Stan & Jean Perron Post-PhD Career Launching Award Telethon Kids Institute Australia -
    2022 Award Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence University of Adelaide Australia -
    2021 Scholarship Travel and Development Award Healthy Development Adelaide Australia -
    2020 Scholarship Travel Award, World Congress of Epidemiology Australian Epidemiological Association Australia -
    2019 Award Student Prize, 7th Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators International Society for Child Indicators Estonia -
    2018 Scholarship International Health Postgraduate Student Scholarship Public Health Association of Australia Australia -
    2017 Scholarship Commonwealth Scholarship Program for South Australia Australian Federal Government Australia -

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    2017 - 2022 University of Adelaide Australia PhD (Public Health)
    2012 - 2012 University of Adelaide Australia BPsych (Hons)
    2009 - 2011 University of Adelaide Australia BPsych

  • Research Interests
    Community Child Health Early Childhood Education Education Policy Epidemiology Inequality studies Population Health Population Trends and Policies Public Health Public Nutrition Intervention Social Policy Child and Adolescent Health Early Origins of Health

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2024 Gregory, T., Monroy, N. S., Grace, B., Finlay-Jones, A., Brushe, M., Sincovich, A., . . . Brinkman, S. A. (2024). Mental health profiles and academic achievement in Australian school students. Journal of School Psychology, 103, 15 pages.
    DOI
    2023 Sincovich, A., Lam, B., Gregory, T., Rodilosso, N., & Brinkman, S. (2023). Early childhood education quality and child development in lao pdr. Population Medicine, 5(Supplement), 344.
    DOI
    2023 Mandzufas, J., Ayalde, J., Ta, D., Munro, E., Paciente, R., Pranoto, E. P., . . . Lombardi, K. (2023). The Investigation of Health-Related Topics on TikTok: A Descriptive Study Protocol. Digital, 3(1), 97-108.
    DOI Scopus2
    2023 Sincovich, A., & Lassi, Z. S. (2023). Putting a price on nurturing care. The Lancet Global Health, 11(8), e1154-e1155.
    DOI
    2022 Brushe, M. E., Islam, T., Monroy, N. S., Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., Finlay-Jones, A., & Brinkman, S. A. (2022). Prevalence of electronic device use before bed among Australian children and adolescents: a cross-sectional population level study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 46(3), 286-291.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC1
    2022 Sincovich, A., Moller, H., Smithers, L., Brushe, M., Lassi, Z. S., Brinkman, S. A., & Gregory, T. (2022). Prevalence of breakfast skipping among children and adolescents: a cross-sectional population level study.. BMC Pediatr, 22(1), 10 pages.
    DOI Scopus11 WoS3 Europe PMC5
    2021 Sincovich, A., & Brinkman, S. (2021). 800A census approach to monitoring child development - informing policy and practice beyond survey samples. International Journal of Epidemiology, 50(Supplement_1).
    DOI
    2021 Moller, H., Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., & Smithers, L. (2021). Breakfast skipping and cognitive and emotional engagement at school: A cross-sectional population level study.. Public Health Nutr, 25(12), 1-10.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS2 Europe PMC2
    2021 Gregory, T., Sincovich, A., Brushe, M., Finlay-Jones, A., Collier, L. R., Grace, B., . . . Brinkman, S. A. (2021). Basic epidemiology of wellbeing among children and adolescents: a cross-sectional population level study. SSM Popul Health, 15, 100907.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
    2020 Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., Harman-Smith, Y., & Brinkman, S. A. (2020). Exploring Associations Between Playgroup Attendance and Early Childhood Development at School Entry in Australia: A Cross-Sectional Population-Level Study. American Educational Research Journal, 57(2), 475-503.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS7
    2020 Rao, N., Mirpuri, S., Sincovich, A., & Brinkman, S. A. (2020). Overcoming challenges in measuring early childhood development across cultures.. The Lancet. Child & adolescent health, 4(5), 352-354.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS8 Europe PMC3
    2020 Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., Zanon, C., Santos, D. D., Lynch, J., & Brinkman, S. A. (2020). Measuring early child development in low and middle income countries: Investigating the validity of the early Human Capability Index. SSM - Population Health, 11, 1-12.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS8 Europe PMC3
    2020 Rao, N., Richards, B., Lau, C., Weber, A. M., Sun, J., Darmstadt, G. L., . . . Ip, P. (2020). Associations Among Early Stimulation, Stunting, and Child Development in Four Countries in the East Asia–Pacific. International Journal of Early Childhood, 52(2), 175-193.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS10
    2019 Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., Zanon, C., Santos, D. D., Lynch, J., & Brinkman, S. A. (2019). Measuring early childhood development in multiple contexts: the internal factor structure and reliability of the early Human Capability Index in seven low and middle income countries. BMC Pediatrics, 19(1), 471-1-471-14.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC4
    2019 Rao, N., Sun, J., Richards, B., Weber, A. M., Sincovich, A., Darmstadt, G., & Ip, P. (2019). Assessing Diversity in Early Childhood Development in the East Asia-Pacific. Child Indicators Research, 12(1), 235-254.
    DOI Scopus29 WoS25
    2019 Rao, N., Richards, B., Sun, J., Weber, A., & Sincovich, A. (2019). Early childhood education and child development in four countries in East Asia and the Pacific. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 47, 169-181.
    DOI Scopus44 WoS32
    2018 Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., Wilson, A., & Brinkman, S. (2018). The social impacts of mining on local communities in Australia. Rural Society, 27(1), 18-34.
    DOI Scopus26 WoS19
    2018 Sun, J., Lau, C., Sincovich, A., & Rao, N. (2018). Socioeconomic status and early child development in East Asia and the Pacific: The protective role of parental engagement in learning activities. Children and Youth Services Review, 93, 321-330.
    DOI Scopus26 WoS21

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2021 Sincovich, A., & Brinkman, S. (2021). A census approach to monitoring child development informing policy and practice beyond survey samples. In INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY Vol. 50 (pp. 1 page). OXFORD UNIV PRESS.
    2021 Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., Lynch, J., & Brinkman, S. (2021). EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT AT 2-5 YEARS PREDICTS COGNITIVE OUTCOMES AT 6-9 YEARS IN LAO PDR: A CASE FOR POPULATION MONITORING USING THE EARLY HUMAN CAPABILITY INDEX IN LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES. In JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH Vol. 75 (pp. A6-A7). BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP.
    DOI

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2022 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Effect of breakfast skipping on child and adolescent wellbeing and academic outcomes Princeton University Global Health Internship Other - Tia Rozario
    2022 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Children’s home learning environments across low- and middle-income countries Princeton University Global Health Internship Other - Emily Trieu
    2021 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Early childhood education quality and children’s development in Lao PDR Princeton University Global Health Internship Other - Nathalie Rodilosso
    2021 - ongoing Co-Supervisor The home learning environment and early child development in low and middle income countries The University of Adelaide Master of Public Health Master - Yihua Su
    2020 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Breakfast skipping and school engagement The University of Adelaide Master of Public Health Master - Hero Moller

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2023 - ongoing Member Early-Mid Career Researcher Council Telethon Kids Institute Australia
    2020 - ongoing Member South Australian Branch Executive Committee Public Health Association of Australia Australia
    2019 - ongoing Member Playgroup Australia National Advisory Group Playgroup Australia Australia

  • Memberships
    Date Role Membership Country
    2023 - ongoing Member Society for Research in Child Development United States
    2022 - ongoing Member Australian Graduate Women Australia
    2021 - ongoing Member Women in Global Health Australia Australia
    2020 - ongoing Member International Society of Global Health United Kingdom
    2018 - ongoing Member Healthy Development Adelaide Australia
    2018 - ongoing Member Public Health Association of Australia Australia
    2018 - ongoing Member International Society for Child Indicators Australia
    2018 - ongoing Member Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood Development Singapore
    2018 - ongoing Member Australasian Epidemiological Association Australia

  • Presentation
    Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
    2022 - 2022 Breakfast skipping in South Australian schools South Australian Healthy Lifestyle State Research Forum University of South Australia -
    2022 - 2022 Breakfast skipping in South Australian schools: prevalence, school engagement, and next steps Population Health Congress 2022 Public Health Association of Australia -
    2021 - 2021 Stronger Starts Brighter Futures: Exploring trends in the early development of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia. 2021 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) National Conference Australian Government Department of Education -
    2021 - 2021 A census approach to monitoring child development: informing policy and practice beyond survey samples International Epidemiological Association’s World Congress of Epidemiology International Epidemiological Association -
    2021 - 2021 Early child development at 2–5 years predicts cognitive outcomes at 6–9 years in Lao PDR: A case for population monitoring using the early Human Capability Index in low and middle income countries Social Science and Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting Society for Social Medicine and Population Health -
    2021 - 2021 Does provision of meals in early childhood education contribute to catch-up growth among stunted children in Lao PDR? 16th Congress of Asian Society for Pediatric Research Asian Society for Pediatric Research -
    2020 - 2020 Measuring early child development across contexts: the early Human Capability Index. . Symposium on Quality of Early Childhood Education, Child Development and Interventions China Institute of Educational Finance Research, Peking University China
    2019 - ongoing The challenges of evaluating interventions in low and middle income countries Guest lecture in Global Public Health, Masters of Public Health The University of Adelaide Australia
    2019 - ongoing Tracking progress against SDG 4.2: capturing culturally-relevant early childhood development 7th Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators International Society for Child Indicators Estonia
    2019 - ongoing The Sustainable Development Goals Guest lecture in Global Public Health, Masters of Public Health The University of Adelaide Australia
    2019 - ongoing Measuring early childhood development across contexts: The factor structure of the early Human Capability Index (eHCI) across seven low and middle income countries 7th Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators International Society for Child Indicators Estonia
    2018 - ongoing The influence of playgroup attendance on early childhood development in Australia 2018 National Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) Conference Australian Government Department of Education Australia
    2018 - ongoing Validating a population measure of early childhood development in low and middle income countries: The early Human Capability Index School of Public Health Seminar The University of Adelaide Australia
    2018 - ongoing The social impacts of mining on local communities in Australia University of New South Wales Arts and Social Sciences Global Development Week University of New South Wales Australia
    2016 - ongoing Inequality in child development across China Fifth International Conference on Poverty Reduction and Child Development China Development Research Foundation China
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