Page 10 - Rotary Matters - March 2023

Final word from a grateful rotary global grant scholar

Annika Theodoulou’s time as the District 9510’s scholar to
Oxford University has come to an end. She reflects on what
she has gained and expresses her gratitude to our district
which initiated and part funded the grant and to the host
Club Misbourne Matins, and district 1090 in Britain which
mentored her during her study year. Annika had to start her
scholarship in Adelaide because of COVID-19 but was able
to move to Oxford last year.

Annika went to Unley High School and Adelaide University.
Since completing her DPhil she has been awarded a Light
Senior Scholarship by St Catherine’s College at the University
of Oxford for 2023 as well as an Award for Excellence by that
university for her research leading to her DPhil.
She writes
‘ I now reflect on how this scholarship set me on a path to help improve public health and prevent disease
through robust research and evidence-based medicine.

The Rotary Global Grant scholarship provided financial support which enabled me to accept my offer
to begin a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) at the University of Oxford. This offer of graduate study was the
seventh study offer I had received from Oxford and Cambridge over the previous six years but the first
I was able to accept. Rotary’s Global Grant scholarship allowed me to meet financial requirements of
my course and focus on improving public health through behaviour change research.

My doctoral research focuses on investigating and addressing socioeconomic inequalities in smoking
cessation behaviours and outcomes. In other words, I aim to improve treatments to help people from
disadvantaged groups quit smoking through robust research. Eight-million people die from cigarette
smoking globally every year. As tobacco smoking kills 1 in 2 people, quitting smoking helps reduce the
risk of deadly diseases and premature death. Improving treatments to help people quit smoking works
towards the Rotary focus area of fighting disease.

Doctoral study with tobacco control research experts at the University of Oxford has placed me at the
forefront of behaviour-change and health policy research around the world. I have connected with and
learned from leading international topic and methods researcher experts, healthcare professionals, and
stop-smoking charities to work towards preventing smoking-related disease. I have undergone training
in new research methods including analysis of large datasets and qualitative research and outlined clear
research plans for what I will deliver as I move forward with my doctoral studies. I have published a
Cochrane review protocol and built on my dissemination skills through sharing my research journey at
many Rotary club meetings throughout the Thames Valley District. I thank The Rotary Foundation and
all its members for their support of my studies and interest in my doctoral research.

The thoughtful comments I received following many of my presentations provided interesting
perspectives that will undoubtedly shape my research moving forward. Through volunteering as a
student representative for the 2022 Rotary District Conference committee, I also had the opportunity
to connect with other global grant scholars from other countries.

All these learning opportunities built my leadership capacity to progress towards becoming an
independent health behaviours researcher, to help prevent disease and death through leading
research and evidence-based medicine.

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