Dr Melissa Purnell
| Position | Teaching Fellow in Epidemiology and Public Health |
|---|---|
| Department | Department of Preventive and Social Medicine (Dunedin) |
| Qualifications | BSc MSc(Neurobiology) PGCertHealSc (Occ Health) PhD |
| Research summary | Occupational epidemiology, neurobiology, injury prevention, mental health |
| Teaching |
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Research
Melissa completed her Phd in the department in 2006 while on a Health Research Council Training Fellowship. Her thesis was focused on sleep, alertness, performance and fatigue management in extended duration and irregular night shift workers.
She has worked for many years in a variety of capacities including university based researcher, private consultant to government and commercial companies, and as a science communicator, primarily in the areas of occupational health, injury prevention and mental health.
Melissa is enjoying utilising this background to inform her current full-time teaching role within the Department.
Publications
Bell, C., Moot, W., Porter, R., Frampton, C., McIntosh, V., Purnell, M., Smith, R., & Douglas, K. (2022). Examining the long-term cognitive effects of exposure to the Canterbury earthquakes in a resilient cohort. BJPsych Open, 8(4), e114. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2022.512
Baddock, S. A., Purnell, M. T., Blair, P. S., Pease, A., Elder, D., & Galland, B. C. (2019). The influence of bed-sharing on infant physiology, breastfeeding and behaviour: A systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 43, 106-117. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2018.10.007
Purnell, M. T., Feyer, A.-M., & Herbison, G. P. (2002). The impact of a nap opportunity during the night shift on the performance and alertness of 12-h shift workers. Journal of Sleep Research, 11, 219-227.
Purnell, M. T., Mitchell, C. J., Taylor, D. J., Kokay, I. C., & Mercer, A. R. (2000). The influence of endogenous dopamine levels on the density of [3H]SCH23390-binding sites in the brain of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L. Brain Research, 855, 206-216.
