Petra Plunger

Petra Plunger works as a senior health expert and health promotion professional in the Competence Centre for Future Health Promotion / Austrian Health Promotion Fund at the Austrian National Public Health Institute. She specialises in developing intersectoral approaches, concepts, and implementation strategies for healthy ageing and caring communities, as well as capacity building and knowledge management in health promotion, linking expertise from practice, policy, training, and research both at the national and international level.

Before joining the Competence Centre in April 2022, she worked as a researcher in inter- and transdisciplinary research in health promotion and palliative care, focusing on ageing, living with dementia, community-based health promotion, and organisational development in health care. She has over 25 years of experience in health promotion and a specific interest in health equity in participatory approaches to involving vulnerable populations, and health promotion ethics.

At the Austrian Public Health Association, she co-hosts a competence group for participatory approaches, is a member of the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research, and is a reviewer for scientific journals. She also teaches on the topic of health promotion and supervises master theses. Petra’s background is in pharmacy, and she holds a MPH degree from Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate in palliative care and organisational ethics.