Princess Alexandra Hospital Southside Clinical Unit
Faculty of Medicine
Availability:
Available for supervision
Associate Professor Annika Antonsson is a virologist with epidemiological training. Viruses can cause cancer, and Annika’s research has been focused on human papillomavirus (HPV) and its role in different types of cancer. HPV is the virus that causes cervical cancer.
Her current main research areas are oral HPV infections in the general population and HPV in mouth and throat cancer (mucosal squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck; HNSCC).
Some cancers of the mouth and throat are increasing and some of this increase is caused by HPV infection. HPV is a sexually transmitted infection and changing sexual behaviour is believed to have caused the increase in HPV-positive tumours of the mouth and throat. Annika is investigating how often HPV in found in HNSCCs and if there are any lifestyle factors linked with having HPV or not to have HPV in tumours.
It is not known how common the potentially cancer-causing viruses are in the mouth of the general population, and this is another area of research Annika is looking into. She has also worked on HPV in skin (normal skin and cancer), infections in breast carcinogenesis, HPV in oesophageal cancer and polyomaviruses in normal skin and skin cancer.
A/Prof Federica Barzi is a Principal Research Fellow in Biostatistics at the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and within the Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Queensland. She was awarded a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Sydney University in 2004 and has a BSc degree in Statistics from the University of Padova, Italy.
A/Prof Barzi is an applied Biostatistician with extensive experience on study design and data analysis of randomized clinical trials, very large observational studies and data linkage. She has worked across a variety of specialties including cardiology, nephrology, nutrition, oncology and emergency care. She has been involved in Indigenous Health since 2005 and from April 2014, with her appointment at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, A/Prof Barzi’s contribution to research focuses solely on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. She has co-authored over a hundred and thirty peer reviewed journal articles with colleagues from various institutions and has secured, as a CI, over 24M in research funding since 2006.
Dr. Bialasiewicz worked at the Royal Children's Hospital and the Children's Health Queensland HHS for over 18 years conducting translational research and clinical support centering on infectious disease (primarily viral and bacterial) molecular diagnostics, general microbiology and molecular epidemiology. In 2019, he became a group leader at The University of Queensland's Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, expanding on a growing interest in the microbial ecology of the human body, it's role in health and disease, and ways to manipulated to achieve desirable outcomes. One Health microbial ecology, where human health is interconnected with the health of animals (both livestock and wildlife), and the broader environment is also an area of active interest. His background in virology has influenced the work he does, meaning a key focus of his microbial ecology works centres around the interactions between all types of microorgansims (bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, and micro-eukaryotes).
Ongoing work includes:
- Leveraging of emerging technologies to explore the hidden microbial diversity and their interactions in the human body.
- Using the technology to develop microbial (e.g. phage)-based treatments or preventatives to complex diseases (e.g. Otitis Media, Chronic Rhinosinusitis, GvHD).
- Understanding the genetics of antibiotic resistance spread.
Tamara is a trained respiratory scientist and has 7 years' experience in measuring the lung function of children aged 3-18 years. She has recently completed her PhD whereby she validated the use of normal healthy reference values for two lung function tests (spirometry and fractional exhaled nitric oxide) for children who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. She has a particular interest in childhood respiratory illnesses such as cystic fibrosis and asthma, emerging clinical measurement techniques, as well as Australian First Nations respiratory health. Her current research aims to better understand the mechanisms of early CF lung disease and to improve current clinical outcome measures to aid in appropriate CF management.
Dr Clare Bradley is a Senior Research Fellow with the UQ Poche Centre and the Program Manager for the ATLAS Indigenous Primary Care Surveillance Network. She has a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Adelaide and has been working in the health surveillance and health services research sectors for nearly two decades.
Before joining Professor Ward’s team in 2017 as the Study Coordinator for the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Aboriginal Sexual Health and Blood-Borne Viruses (which established the ATLAS network), Clare spent 14 years at Flinders University; first with the Research Centre for Injury Studies (2003–2014) where she led the AIHW National Injury Surveillance Unit’s falls and older people’s injury research program, and then with the NHMRC Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre as the Senior Research Fellow for the Understanding long-term care services for older people with cognitive decline in Australia project. Clare has extensive project coordination, health surveillance and data linkage skills and wide-ranging research interests, now focused on Indigenous health.
Clare is the Chief Investigator for the recently awarded Improving surveillance infrastructure for Indigenous primary health care project, receiving $1.99m through the Medical Research Future Fund (PHRDI000054). She is also a CI on two current NHMRC Ideas grants: Leaving no-one behind: Informing Indigenous aged care policy with big data (GNT2004089, CI-C), and Implementing a precision public health approach to eliminate STIs and control HIV in regional Australia (GNT1185073, CI-D). Through these and her ongoing involvement in the maintenance and development of the ATLAS network and research infrastructure, Clare is committed to excellence and innovation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services research and passionate about strengthening research capacity and supporting Indigenous Data Sovereignty in all aspects her research activity.
Clare has successfully co-supervised one PhD and two honours students to completion and is available for collaboration or supervision across a range of topics, including Indigenous primary care and infectious disease surveillance; health services research; dementia and aged care services research; falls injury; suicide and self-harm; use of linked administrative datasets; development of disease classification structures; and descriptive epidemiology for public health purposes.
Dr Bena Brown is a clinician/researcher who brings her passion for caring for people with cancer and their families to her current role in the FNCWR team, where her focus is on delivering projects that optimise survivorship and cancer health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These projects include implementing novel models of care such as navigation and health behaviour intervention, optimising communication and access to services through the development and evaluation of culturally responsive resources.
Bena has more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, has presented at multiple national and international conferences, and has been awarded over $3.6 million in research grants.
She is also an Advanced Speech Pathologist (Cancer Care) at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital and provides RHD supervision for higher-degree students in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in UQ's Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty. Bena is a member of the Human Research and Ethics Committees at Metro South Health and serves on State-wide committees for the Queensland Collaborative for Cancer Survivorship and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA) Patient-Reported Outcome Working Group.
Outside her research and clinical career, Bena is mum to two boisterous boys, a keen yogi, and passionate student and board member at Vulcana Circus.
Dr Tamara Butler is an Aboriginal woman of the Undumbi people from the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia and a NHMRC Emerging Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. She works withing the First Nations Cancer and Wellbeing Research Program. Her work is focused on women’s cancers with the goal of improving cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families, and communities. Broadly Dr Butler’s research interests also include First Nations research methods and process, co-design, wellbeing, and psychosocial aspects of cancer care.
Liam is an Associate Professor in Telehealth and Director of Telehealth Technology for the University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health.
Liam has a PhD in Medicine. His research is centred on pragmatic trials of telehealth services. Liam has a special interest in the use of telehealth for Indigenous health and rural health care delivery. He is involved in telehealth service development, delivery and evaluation across a broad range of telehealth services. Liam uses implementation research principles to understand why telehealth services work well in some scenarios and not others. He evaluates the effectiveness of telehealth from multi-disciplinary perspectives including clinical effectiveness, patient perspectives, economic aspects, organisational aspects, and socio-cultural, ethical and legal aspects.
Liam also has an active research agenda in health informatics, in particular, in imaging informatics. Liam’s work focusses on skin imaging for melanoma detection. Liam chairs dermatology working group for the DICOM standards development organisation as well as the technology standards working group for the International Skin Imaging Collaboration: Melanoma Project. This project is an academia and industry partnership designed to facilitate the application of digital skin imaging to help reduce melanoma mortality. Liam is technology lead for the Australian Centre of Excellence in Melanoma Imaging and Diagnosis. Liam has previously been a member of the Standards Australia IT-014 Health Informatics technical committees for telehealth and messaging and communication.
Liam is Vice-President of the Australian Telehealth Society and an executive member of the International Teledermatology Society.
Liam has 25 years industry experience as a health informatician. His immediate past role was the Manager of Medical Imaging Informatics at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. Previously, Liam had over a decade’s clinical experience as a diagnostic radiographer.
Anton is a mixed methods researcher with primary expertise in qualitative research methods. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow in the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Queensland.
Anton's primary interest is in working in partnership with Aboriginal community-controlled health services to co-design, implement and evaluate intervention strategies, and develop more practical and effective models of embedding evaluation into their delivery of services and programs. His work in this area focuses on participatory qualitative research with staff and patients of Aboriginal community-controlled health services to improve the acceptability of interventions and optimise their potential effectiveness.
Anton has previously worked in a research role with the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health and as a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland. Following completion of his PhD in 2008, he was awarded a National Health & Medical Research Council postdoctoral research fellowship which he undertook at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of NSW.
Dr Emma Crawford is an occupational therapist and researcher whose work centres on promoting wellbeing for infants, children, families and communities. Emma's primary focus is on cross-cultural projects that link with community organisations to create social change and reduce the impacts of disadvantage by supporting health enhancing environments and activities in early life. At the centre of Emma's work is the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 - ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing across all ages. Currently, Emma is leading several projects:
1) The BABI Project (research): refugee and asylum seeker families' expereinces during the perinatal period (systematic review, qualitative focus group and interview research)
2) The Uni-Friends program (student delivered service and student placement) - a social-emotional helth promotion program that draws on cultural responsiveness (The Making Connecitons Framework) and community development principles in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled School
3) LUCIE-NDC (research) - mothers' experiences of accessing Neuroprotective-Developmental Care in the first 12 months of their infants' lives
Emma has a strong interest in understanding human experiences, community-driven initiatives, and strengths-based, innovative, evidence based, complex approaches to wellbeing that consider individuals and systems She also carries out research regarding allied health student placements in culturally diverse settings including low-middle income countries and Indigenous contexts. She works as a Lecturer at the University of Queensland, Australia after having worked in a range of occupational therapy roles including with children with autism, with asylum seekers, with Indigenous Australians with chronic disease, and completing her PhD in Political Science and International Studies in 2015.
Associate Professor Fatima is a Pharmacist, Epidemiologist, Sleep Scientist, and the Research Lead of the “Let’s Yarn About Sleep” program. Fatima's research aims to reduce the societal burden of poor sleep and associated health issues through coordinated multidisciplinary, translational research and co-designed programs and service models. She is nationally recognised for leadership in co-designing sleep health programs, workforce training frameworks and service delivery models to improve sleep health care in First Nations communities.
In response to community-identified needs and service gaps, A/Prof Fatima partnered with community members and service providers to co-develop a "ground-up" sleep health movement now known as the Let’s Yarn About Sleep (LYAS) program. The partnership discussions were initiated in late 2018 and involved extensive discussion with community Elders and key stakeholders from the partner organisations. These discussions helped understand partners' priorities, facilitated a shared understanding of decision-making processes, identified knowledge and resource-sharing strategies, and underpinned the program's co-development. The LYAS program has significantly improved community awareness and appreciation of sleep health and created pathways for sleep health integration for effective prevention and management of chronic conditions.
The LYAS program is transforming the way the sleep health needs of First Nations peoples are assessed and addressed. The program innovation lies in building local capacity, privileging First Nations voices, empowering end-users, integrating two-world views, interdisciplinary expertise, and diverse research methodologies. These efforts resulted in the UQ-led delivery of Australia’s first Indigenous Sleep Coach training, research roles for community members, and integration of sleep health programs in remote schools and health services. The team is now collaborating with 11 communities to strengthen local capacity and capability for achieving sleep health equity and minimise the human, societal and economic costs associated with poor sleep. Furthermore, many other communities and services in Queensland have invited the team for workforce training and sleep health care for First Nations peoples.
Dr Alize Ferrari leads the Epidemiology and Burden of Disease Research Stream at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research. This stream undertakes a program of work featuring the collection of new epidemiological data for mental disorders, analysis of existing data to quantify the distribution of mental disorders, quantification of the fatal and non-fatal consequences of mental disorders, and the development of methodological frameworks to improve the precision at which we collect and analyse epidemiological data. Dr Ferrari is an Affiliate Professor of Global Health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Public Health, University of Queensland. She is the Team Lead for the Mental Disorders Research Team within the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study. The GBD initiative is led by IHME and quantifies health loss from over 350 causes. She is the Primary Investigator on the Queensland Urban Indigenous Mental Health Survey. This is a population-based mental health survey of adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Southeast Queensland. It will determine the prevalence of mental and substance use disorders, mental health services being accessed, and implications for service reform.
Carl (Saibai Koedal) is a PhD Candidate studying the epidemiology of rheumatic heart disease in Queensland using linked hospital and administrative data. Currently, Carl holds an academic appointment (Lecturer, Physiotherapy) in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, the University of Queensland, and maintains a clinical role as a Staff Physiotherapist at The Prince Charles Hospital. Alongside research, Carl is also working to strengthen relationships between remote Torres Strait Islander communities and UQ to explore opportunities for education, student clinical placement and research partnerships.
Stephen is a Narungga and Ngarrindjeri man from South Australia, and Senior Research Fellow with the University of Queensland Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and PhD candidate with the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland.
Stephen is an epidemiologist and public health researcher who has worked with Aboriginal communities and organisations across Australia. Stephen has experience in conducting health services research, sexual health, adolescents and young people’s health and wellbeing, and Indigenous methodology.
Stephen completed a Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology at the Australian National University in 2019, and has a Master of Public Health (Flinders University, 2013), a Graduate Certificate Health Services Research and Development (The University of Wollongong, 2012), and a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Public Health) (The University of Adelaide, 2008).
· Senior Staff Specialist (Public Health Medicine), Queensland Health
· Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Clinical Research - University of Queensland
· Adjunct Professor, Griffith University Medical School
RECENT POSITIONS
· General Practitioner, Indooroopilly General Practice
· Senior Staff Specialist (Public Health Medicine), Metro South, Metro North, Central Queensland, and West Moreton Public Health Units (January 2021 to July 2022)
· Director, Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability (to January 2021)
· Senior Medical Officer, Mater Intellectual Disability and Autism Service (to November 2020)
· General Practitioner, Cornwall Street Medical Centre (to November 2020)
Introduction
I am a public health physician, zoologist, epidemiologist, and general practitioner. I commenced my clinical career in Far North Queensland in the early 1990s. I gained experience in Indigenous health, remote health, obstetrics and other areas of medicine. I also completed my specialist training in Public Health Medicine in Cairns in the early 2000s. From 2002 to 2008 I combined clinical work in adult developmental disability medicine at Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability Medicine (QCIDD) with general practice and travel medicine. While working as Senior Fellow at The National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH), Australian National University (ANU) I managed patients at Interchange General Practice, a clinic specialising in the health of people who use drugs, refugee health, and blood-borne viruses, among other areas. Until the end of 2020 I consulted clinically at the Mater Intellectual Disability and Autism Service and in general practice. I practiced at Indooroopilly General Practice until October 2022.
I've maintained a strong interest in the biological world since my first degree in zoology and via study of vector associations of Ross River virus during my PhD. The biological factors involved in the transmission of arboviruses has remained a particular interest, especially for Ross River virus and dengue. In the case of the former I have published a highly cited review detailing vector associations and reservoir hosts (Harley, Sleigh and Ritchie, Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2001) and original research on vector associations in Far North Queensland (Harley et al., American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2001). More recently I have published on rainfall cut-points for outbreak prediction in the Northern Territory (Jacups et al., Journal of Medical Entomology, 2011), and modelling incorporating vegetation and macropod populations (Ng et al., Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, 2014). I have published modelled projections for populations of Aedes aegypti, the vector of dengue, with climate change (Williams et al., Parasites and Vectors, 2014).
My research scope is broad. My four most highly cited publications (one with over 400 and one over 300 citations, Google Scholar) span arbovirology (Harley, Sleigh and Ritchie, Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2001), psychiatry (Tyrer et al, Lancet, 2008), disability (Palmer and Harley, Health Policy and Planning, 2011) and climate change and health (Butler and Harley, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2010).
Qualifications
I hold general and specialist registration as a medical practitioner. I am a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (Royal Australasian College of Physicians) and the Australian College of Tropical Medicine.
I have a PhD in Tropical Health from the University of Queensland and a Master of Medical Science in Clinical Epidemiology from The University of Newcastle. I have a first class honours degree in zoology from the University of Queensland.
Advocacy, lobbying and consultancies
I've contributed actively to my college, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), and faculty, The Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine. I have joined working parties on Indigenous health, the health of disabled people (deputy chair), and most recently climate change and health. The work on the second and third working parties resulted in production of RACP position papers. In 2016 I represented the college in meetings with parliamentarians in Canberra on climate change and health. I'm currently a member of college reference groups on the NDIS and on global heating and health.
I represented the Royal Australasian College of Physicians at roundtable meetings on the health of people with intellectual disability, the first on 2 August 2019 (see Microsoft Word - D19-1158817 Roundtable on the Health of People with Intellectual Disability - Summary and Recommendations(2)). The roundtable was convened by the former Commonwealth Minister for Health, Mr Greg Hunt. Subsequent to the roundtable Minister Hunt released a National Roadmap for Improving Health Services for People with Intellectual Disability (see https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/national-roadmap-for-improving-the-health-of-people-with-intellectual-disability).
The Roadmap includes a wide range of measures including short-term measures focused on:
· Programs in Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to improve the capacity and skills of GPs and other primary health services to meet the needs of people with intellectual disability. This will initially be in four PHN lead sites with a view to national rollout after four years.
· Better use of existing Medicare items, including those for annual health assessments of people with intellectual disability.
· Better coordination between the health sector and other sectors such as disability and education.
· Support for people with intellectual disability and their families so that they can make informed decisions about health care and navigate the health care system.
The former LNP Government also committed $19.3 million in initial funding for the first actions in the Roadmap, including:
· $6.6 million to develop a Primary Care Enhancement Program for People with Intellectual Disability
· $6.7 million to improve implementation of annual health assessments for people with intellectual disability
· $4.7 million for curriculum development in intellectual disability health
· $1.4 million to scope and co-design a National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health
A report from the Roundtable and the outline of the proposed national Roadmap at https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/national-roadmap-for-improving-the-health-of-Australians-with-intellectual-disability and the Roadmap itself is abvailable at National Roadmap for Improving the Health of people with Intellectual Disability. The RACGP overview of the budget also lists a commitment for intellectual disability (RACGP | Overview of the Federal Budget 2021-22 (Health) | May 2021). I’ve been invited by the Commonwealth Department of Health to support the scoping and co‑design of models for a national centre of excellence in intellectual disability health (‘national centre’) and have been nominated by my college, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), to represent the college through the process.
I've held various consultancies and panel memberships, including with AusAid and WHO.
Supervision
In my time working at The Australian National University (2008-2016) five honours students completed projects under my supervision. All obtained first class degrees. My first student, Melanie Bannister-Tyrrell was awarded a university medal, published her honours research (Bannister-Tyrrell et al., American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2013), and is now a Senior Epidemiology Consultant to AusVet. Other students completed projects on tuberculosis management in the Torres Strait (Ellen Hart), tuberculosis diagnosis in Thailand (Eileen Baker), hypertension among Thai caregivers (Laura Saville), and mapping of renal disease risk in South Australia (Scott Pearce). I also supervised Ritwika Vinayagam's honours project at the University of Queensland, on diabetes and autism, in 2020.
Current PhD Supervision
· Semira Hailu - The burden of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in Africa (UQ, associate advisor)
· Wei Qian - Ross River virus in Queensland (UQ, associate advisor)
· Tam Tranh - Road trauma in Vietnam (ANU, associate advisor)
· Cynthia Parayiwa - “Birth outcomes following maternal exposure to severe tropical cyclones in Queensland, Australia” (ANU, associate advisor)
Current Masters Supervision
· Suhasini Sumithra - Modelling Ross River virus in NSW (MPhil, ANU)
Completed PhDs
· Menghuan Song - Psychotropic prescribing to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (UQ, principal advisor)
· Sifat Sharmin - Dengue and climate in Bangladesh (ANU, Chair of Panel)
· Ray Lovett - Screening for drug and alcohol use in Indigenous community controlled health organisations (ANU, Chair of Panel)
· Philipa Dossetor - Children's health in Fitzroy Crossing, WA, with a focus on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (ANU, Chair of Panel initially, then panel member)
· Kerri Viney - Tuberculosis in the South Pacific (ANU, Panel member)
· Lachlan McIver - Climate change and health in the South Pacific (ANU, Panel member, Chair of Panel for completion of PhD)
· Kazi Rahman - Visceral Leishmaniasis in Bangladesh (ANU, Panel member)
· Yani Sun - Tuberculosis in Henan Province, China (ANU, Panel member, awarded ANU "Top Supervisor" award)
· Vicky Ng - Modelling of Ross River virus in NSW (ANU, Panel member)
· Michael Palmer - Disability in rural Vietnam (ANU, Panel member)
Completed Masters
· Tran Tuan Anh Le - Health of Australian adolescents with intellectual disability (MPhil, UQ)
· Alexandra Marmor - MPhil (App Epi; ANU)
· Anna Gibbs - Gram negative sepsis in Queensland children (MPH, UNSW)
Research
I was chief investigator on two NHMRC project grants worth over $2 million while with the ANU. I was CIA for one of these grants, to research weather and dengue virus epidemiology in Far North Queensland. The second grant funded the Thai Health-Risk transition project, a longitudinal study of the health of Thai people living throughout the country. Both projects have produced important publications in my areas of interest including dengue and climate (e.g. Williams et al., Epidemiology and Infection, 2016; Viennet et al., Parasites and Vectors, 2014), disability and health (Yiengprugsawan et al., Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2010), and the health of carers (Yiengprugsawan et al., BMC Public Health, 2012). Fruitful collaborations have arisen from both grants including co-supervision of my PhD student Sifat Sharmin with my NHMRC-funded post-doctoral researcher Elvina Viennet and honours student projects related to the Thai study (Eileen Baker and Laura Saville). Before commencing at ANU I gained research funding from The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Rotary, The University of Queensland, and James Cook University.
Major themes in my research are infectious diseases epidemiology, environment and health, and the health of disabled people.
In the first of these I have focussed on arboviruses, particularly Ross River and dengue viruses, but have also published on Chikungunya, Zika, Adenovirus, tuberculosis, and invasive meningococcal disease. Since the publication of my highly cited and wide ranging review on the first of these (Harley, Sleigh and Ritchie, Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 2001; 346 citations, Google Scholar, 16/1/2019) I have remained an authority on this virus. I am first author on the chapter on Ross River virus in the authoritative textbook Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases (Harley and Suhrbier, Hunter's Tropical Medicine, 2019). I have also published on vector associations (Harley et al., American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2001), clinical manifestations (Harley et al., Medical Journal of Australia, 2002), and behavioural risks (Harley et al., International Journal of Epidemiology, 2005). More recently I have published on environmental determinants of risk (Jacups et al., Journal of Medical Entomology, 2011; Ng et al., Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, 2014). I also have a major interest in dengue and have published on the epidemiology of this important virus in Australia (e.g. Viennet et al., PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2016; Williams et al., Epidemiology and Infection, 2016) and Bangladesh (Sharmin et al., Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2015; PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2015; Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 2016). I have also published on the epidemiology of tuberculosis in China (e.g. Sun et al., PLoS One, 2017) and the Pacific (e.g. Viney et al., Tropical Medicine and International Health, 2015).
I have a particular focus on environment and infectious diseases (see dengue research in paragraph above; Harley et al., Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2011; Harley et al., Infectious diseases: a geographic guide, 2010). I was an invited speaker on climate change and infectious diseases at the International Congress on Infectious Diseases in Hyderabad, India, during March 2016. I also co-authored, with Colin Butler, a conceptual paper on levels of impact from climate change on health (Butler and Harley, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2010), and have written on the education of medical students on climate change and health (Green et al., Australian Family Physician, 2009) and impacts of climate change on immune function (Swaminathan et al., Children, 2014). I was invited to, and chaired the Infectious disease ecology and epidemiology stream, for the 2014 Theo Murphy High Flyers think tank, convened by the Australian Academy of Science, on Climate Change Challenges to Health.
When working at QCIDD ealier I led the Australian arm for an international multi-centre RCT on antipsychotic medication for aggressive behaviour in adults with developmental disabilities (Tyrer et al., Lancet, 2008; cited 365 times, Google Scholar, 19/8/2021). I have also researched the economic impact of disability in Vietnam (Palmer et al., International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 2011) and the asssociations of hearing impairment in Thailand (Yiengprugsawan et al., Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2010) and co-authored an international review on models and measurement of disability (Palmer and Harley, Health Policy and Planning, 2011).
Editing and reviewing
I am a section editor for PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. I guest edited, with Shamshad Karatela, a special edition of The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health entitled "Environmental and Social Influences on Cognitive Development and Function" (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/cognitive_development). Journals I have reviewed for include Lancet Infectious Diseases, BMC Infectious Diseases, Science, The Medical Journal of Australia, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, and Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities.
Teaching
I taught epidemiology and evidence based medicine to medical students at The University of Queensland and ANU from 2002 to 2016. I was invited annually from 2012 to 2015 to teach epidemiology and outbreak control at Institut Pasteur and The Oxford University Clinical Research in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I was a foundation member of the teaching team for the ANU Master of Public Health (MPH) core subject, Fundamentals of Epidemiology, and have also instructed students on global health and climate change and health in the ANU MPH. In addition I've provided clinical teaching for ANU medical students in general practice and do so currently for third year UQ medicine students rotating to Cornwall Street Medical Centre in their general practice rotation.
I have contributed to building capacity internationally through strong engagement in supervision and teaching. I have supervised students from China, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. I have also taught epidemiology and outbreak control to many students from low income countries in South East Asia as an invited instructor with Institut Pasteur and Oxford University in Ho Chi Minh City annually from 2012 to 2015.
Research Interests
· Infectious disease epidemiology
· Adult developmental disability medicine
· Indigenous health
· Public Health Medicine
Qualifications
· Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
· BSc (Hons I Zoology), The University of Queensland
· Bachelor of Medicine and Bachlor of Surgery, The University of Queensland
Helen works across a range of projects in both the research and consultancy arms of the Centre for Online Health, Centre for Health Services Research. Her focus is on the effective use of technology to increase access to health interventions (e.g. online psychoeducational tools for carers; telehealth implementation, telemental health and allied health) and increasing health literacy in the community (e.g. dementia knowledge and digital health). She is particularly interested in using health technology to promote quality end-of-life care. Her current projects aim to increase care closer to home for people with dementia and with life-limiting illnesses (e.g. telepalliative care). In 2023, she was awarded a 3-year National Palliative Care Project Grant funding to lead a national palliative care telementoring project - Palliative Care ECHO. Other research includes: evaluation of telepalliative care services (e.g. patient/ carer outcomes and perceptions and staff perceptions); mental health interventions via telehealth and social media and; online psychoeducational support for carers of people with primary brain tumours in order to increase quality of life and mental wellbeing.
Helen coordinates a range of COH consultancy projects.
She is a Registered Psychologist with clinical experience working with a range of issues and diverse populations and has over ten years’ experience teaching and facilitating workshops on psychology and health communication.
Associate Professor Xiang-Yu (Janet) Hou is a Principal Research Fellow in the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. Janet was trained as a doctor in China and an epidemiologist in Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine from Shandong University, Master of Medicine from Peking University, and a PhD from Queensland University of Technology. Janet has worked as an academic researcher in universities in Australia and overseas, as an Academic Dean in a private university in NSW, as a Medical Affairs Director in a USA company, and as a Program Manager in Queensland Health DG’s Office.
Janet has published over 100 research papers and book chapters. Her research interests include behavioural epidemiology, social epidemiology, health system research, health program evaluation, emergency medicine, paramedicine, and mental health. Her current research focus, as a team member of the Research Alliance for Urban Goorie Health (RAUGH), is to substantially accelerate the progress towards closing the gap in life expectancy and achieving health equality for urban First Peoples in greater Brisbane north.
Janet is a friendly, supportive, and experienced supervisor in training Higher Degree Research (HDR) students and early-stage researchers in epidemiology. She is currently available to supervise new HDR students in health research regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples living in urban, regional, and remote Australia.
Dr. Edmund W. Kanmiki is a public health researcher with expertise spanning population health, epidemiology and health economics. He is passionate about achieving health equity, particularly for vulnerable populations. Dr. Kanmiki’s research focuses on social determinants of health, reproductive, maternal, and child health (RMCH), community-based healthcare interventions, healthcare financing, Indigenous health, non-communicable diseases and related areas. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with economics, a master’s degree and PhD in public health. Edmund’s doctoral thesis at the University of Queensland aimed at improving equity in maternal and child health in rural communities using community-based primary healthcare strategies.
At UQ Poche Centre, Edmund is a member of the Implementing Life Course Interventions research team led by NHMRC Leadership Fellow, Mamun Abdullah. He is a co-investigator of the ARC Centre of Excellence for children and families over the Life Course project titled “Preventing and managing diabetes among Indigenous women and youth”. He is also a research coordinator for the “Exposure to Trihalomethanes in Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes in Queensland Study”.
Prior to joining the University of Queensland, Dr. Kanmiki held research roles at the University of Ghana and the Navrongo Health Research Centre and provided consultancy services to some national and multinational institutions. He is a recipient of the Mastercard Scholarship, Elsevier Atlas award and early carrier research grant award from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH). His research and peer-reviewed publications have informed health policy and programs. Dr. Kanmiki has presented his research at several esteemed conferences. His research has also garnered media attention in prominent outlets including The Conversation in Australia, Health and Medicine in Canada, and Health and Wellness in the United Kingdom.
Associate Professor Nina Lansbury (also published as Nina Hall) is an environmental public health research and teaching academic at The University of Queensland’s School of Public Health. Her current research at UQ examines environmental health aspects that support the health and wellbeing of remote Indigenous community residents on both mainland Australia and in the Torres Strait in terms of housing, water and sanitation, and women's health. She also investigates the impacts of climate change on human health, and this involved a role as Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6 WG II). Within the research sector, she was previously a senior research scientist at CSIRO, manager of the Sustainable Water program at The University of Queensland, and senior research consultant at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS. Within the non-government sector, she was previously the director of the Climate Action Network Australia and research coordinator at the Mineral Policy Institute.