Ph.D. Student

Physical Activity Epidemiology

Has now left the Unit

Work and interests

Rajna was a PhD candidate working as part of the Physical Activity Epidemiology programme, who was awarded her doctorate in 2014. Her current research interests revolve around the prevalence of physical activity and its associations with the risk of cardio-metabolic and other lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Throughout her PhD she worked on several large-scale epidemiological studies using self-reported and objectively measured physical activity data (EPIC-Norfolk, InterAct, National Survey for Health and Development, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) and the ProActive trial.

Background and experience

Prior to her PhD, Rajna qualified as an MD at the Zagreb University School of Medicine in Croatia, where she also completed her foundation medical training. Subsequently, she worked as a physician and a research fellow at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine (Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Zagreb University School of Medicine) where she trained in occupational and sports medicine and was involved in several research projects and international public health collaborations focusing on workers’ health (through the WHO Collaborative Center for Occupational Health in Zagreb ) as well as teaching on the occupational medicine course for medical students. Furthermore, she obtained a doctorate (DSc) in occupational medicine at the same university and undertook advanced training in clinical research methods at the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (as a Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences Fellow).

Rajna completed an MPhil in Public Health at Cambridge as a Gates Scholar and was also awarded a Gates Scholarship for her PhD. In addition, she has been a Benefactors’ Scholar at St. John’s College, Cambridge and received a Raymond and Beverly Sackler Studentship from the School of Clinical Medicine at Cambridge. She teaches on the MPhil in Epidemiology and MPhil in Public Health courses at Cambridge.

Throughout her career, Rajna won several honours and prizes including: Distinction in Pathophysiology as a medical student, Dean’s Award for outstanding academic performance as a medical student, Rector’s Award for the best student research work, and also earned a top mark on her MPhil thesis at Cambridge. Her work has been presented at several international conferences.

Alongside her PhD and clinical interests, Rajna has been appointed associate editor of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical and Healthcare Research (ISBN: 9780199608478; in press).

Publications

• MRC Epidemiology Unit publications on the Publications Database
• ResearchGate profile
• LinkedIn profile
• Publications on PubMed

Selected publications authored during PhD

1. Golubic R, Wijndaele K, Simmons R, Griffin S, Ekelund U, Wareham N, Brage S, Physical activity, sedentary time and gain in overall and central body fat: seven year follow-up of the ProActive trial cohort. International Journal of Obesity. 2014 (in press)
2. Golubic R, Martin K, Ekelund U, Hardy R, Kuh D, Wareham N, Cooper R, Brage S. Levels of physical activity among a nationally representative sample of people in early old age: results of objective and self-reported assessments. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2014 (in press)
3. Golubic R, May AM, Benjaminsen Borch K, Overvad K, Charles MA, Diaz MJ, Amiano P, Palli D, Valanou E, Vigl M, Franks PW, Wareham N, Ekelund U, Brage S. Validity of Electronically Administered Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire (RPAQ) in Ten European Countries. PloS One. 2014.9(3):e92829
4. Romero-España, Golubic R, Martin K, Hardy R, Ekelund U, Kuh D, Wareham N, Cooper R, Brage S. Comparison of the EPIC Physical Activity Questionnaire with combined heart rate and movement sensing in a nationally representative sample of older British adults. PloS One. 2014 ;9(2):e87085
5. Golubic R, Ekelund U, Wijndaele K, Luben R, Khaw KT, Wareham N, Brage S, Rate of weight gain predicts change in physical activity levels: a longitudinal analysis of the EPIC-Norfolk cohort, Int J Obes (Lond), 2013, 37(3):404-9
6. Van Hees V, Golubic R, Ekelund U, Brage S. Impact of study design on development and evaluation of an activity type classifier, Journal of Applied Physiology, J Appl Physiol. 2013 Apr;114(8):1042-51