Rachel Skinner is Clinical Stream Medical Director - Priority Populations and Senior Staff Specialist in Adolescent Medicine at the Sydney Children's Hospital Network. She is also Conjoint Professor in Child and Adolescent Health at The University of Sydney, The Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School. She was Senior Clinical Advisor, Youth Health and Wellbeing, at the NSW Ministry of Health until 2023.

Rachel has spent much of the last 25 years working as a clinician and researcher in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, spanning medical, public health, psychosocial and ethical aspects of sexual and reproductive health in young people. Findings from her research have been translated into policy that has had a global impact on the health of young women, including marginalised young people. She has studied adolescent health and wellbeing life trajectories, health risk behaviour, adolescent pregnancy and parenting, sexual health, sexuality and gender. Another area of research expertise has improved our understanding of adolescent vaccination, particularly against HPV and school vaccination programs for adolescents.

Rachel is the Deputy Director of the WH&Y Centre of Research Excellence in Adolescent Health and Leader of Pathways & Costs.

Discover more: Rachel Skinner

Publications

• Tabrizi, S. N., Brotherton, J. M. L., Kaldor, J. M., Skinner, S. R., Liu, B., Bateson, D., . . . Garland, S. M. (2014). Assessment of herd immunity and cross-protection after a human papillomavirus vaccination programme in australia: A repeat cross-sectional study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 14(10), 958-966. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(14)70841-2
• Robbins, S. C. C., Bernard, D., McCaffery, K., Brotherton, J. M. L., & Skinner, S. R. (2010). "I just signed": Factors influencing decision-making for school-based HPV vaccination of adolescent girls. Health Psychology, 29(6), 618-625. doi:10.1037/a0021449
• Davies, C., Skinner, S.R., Stoney, T., Marshall, H.S., Collins, J., Jones, J., Hutton, H., Parrella, A., Cooper, S., McGeechan, K. and Zimet, G., 2017. ‘Is it like one of those infectious kind of things?’ The importance of educating young people about HPV and HPV vaccination at school. Sex Education, 17(3), pp.256-275. doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2017.1300770
• Skinner, S. R., Szarewski, A., Romanowski, B., Garland, S. M., Lazcano-Ponce, E., Salmerón, J., . . . Dubin, G. (2014). Efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of the human papillomavirus 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine in women older than 25 years: 4-year interim follow-up of the phase 3, double-blind, randomised controlled VIVIANE study. The Lancet, 384(9961), 2213-2227. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60920-X
• Lewis, L.N., Doherty, D.A., Hickey, M. and Skinner, S.R., 2010. Implanon as a contraceptive choice for teenage mothers: a comparison of contraceptive choices, acceptability and repeat pregnancy. Contraception, 81(5), pp.421-426. doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2009.12.006
• Skinner, S.R., Smith, J., Fenwick, J., Fyfe, S. and Hendriks, J., 2008. Perceptions and experiences of first sexual intercourse in Australian adolescent females. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43(6), pp.593-599. doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.04.017