Tanita Northcott

Tanita Northcott is a PhD Candidate in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University.

Tanita holds a Juris Doctor from Melbourne Law School and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours – Criminology) from The University of Melbourne. She is a Lawyer and worked in legal practice prior to commencing her PhD.

Tanita’s PhD research focuses on understanding how law and regulation can be conceptualised and used to respond to the rise and harms of ultra-processed foods in the context of complex food systems and related socio-ecological challenges. Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach and combines public health nutrition scholarship, regulatory theory and systems sciences analytical frameworks, using qualitative research methodologies. Tanita has presented her research at domestic and international conferences. She has also contributed to teaching in food policy and public health nutrition units at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Deakin University, and teaching the Torts JD unit at Melbourne Law School.

Tanita is Action Group Chair of The Community Plate Collective, and a Member of Healthy Food Systems Australia.