In 1995 she was awarded a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Monash University for a thesis titled: Fasting plasma glucose distributions and their implications for the diagnostic criteria for non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in Pacific populations.

As an undergraduate student she realised this interest could be combined with her strong mathematics and statistics skills which led to her career as an epidemiologist and biostatistician.

[3] "My end goal would be that any policy that has anything to do with promoting exercise or fitness or health in any context has a component that this will follow the principles of sports safety.

The award recognised her "outstanding dedication and leadership in injury/violence prevention and control and emergency health services internationally with contributions and achievements that have a significant and long term impact on the field".

[15] In January 2018 Finch was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), "for distinguished service to sports medicine, particularly in the area of injury prevention, as an educator, researcher and author, and to the promotion of improved health in athletes and those who exercise.

"[16][3] Projects Finch has been involved with include: Carried out from 2010 to 2013, NoGAPS (National Guidance for Australian football Partnerships and Safety) was a NHMRC Partnerships Project which aimed to develop, deliver, implement and evaluate new evidence-based guidelines for exercise training programs to prevent lower limb injuries in community Australian football.

The large scale PAFIX project was unique in its use of a multi-level approach to understand the cause and prevention of knee injuries in community Australian football.

[18][19] Data was also collected during the project focusing on concussion with the aim to understand and prevent head injuries within a community Australian football setting.