Aspro Catherine Draper

Catherine Draper is a South African public health researcher and academic based at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her work centres on child and adolescent health, with a strong emphasis on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, and early childhood development in diverse and low-resource settings. She is closely involved in global collaborations such as the SUNRISE International Study and initiatives advancing movement behaviour surveillance worldwide.

Her research explores how behavioural, social, and environmental factors shape health trajectories from the early years onward. Recent publications examine sedentary behaviour and motor development, geocultural sleep patterns, digital tools for early childhood support, and harmonised international trials focused on maternal and child health. She also contributes to strengthening measurement tools, surveillance systems, and psychometric validation in African contexts.

Beyond behavioural epidemiology, her scholarship addresses broader structural determinants of wellbeing, including community engagement in research, pandemic responses, mental health, and the intersection of climate change and violence against children. This interdisciplinary portfolio highlights leadership in generating policy-relevant evidence and promoting equitable, globally informed child health strategies.