New funding

Sam Colquhoun has secured funding from STRONG T-L for a four-phase study investigating child malnutrition factors in Timor-Leste.

Awards

Amy Parry’s poster titled ‘A mixed methods study protocol: Building an evidence base for epidemiology emergency response’ won 2^nd best poster at the Regional Mixed Methods International Research Association (MMIRA) 2019 Conference in Wellington, NZ.

Outreach and engagement

Numerous IDEM staff and students (Martyn Kirk, Ben Polkinghorne, Sam Colquhoun, Miranda Harris and Danielle Cribb, as well as MAE students) have been seconded to the Commonwealth Department of Health National Incident Room to assist with the novel coronavirus outbreak response.

Sam is also supervising two SORT IT research projects in Timor-Leste which have been submitted to the HREC this month.

Meru Sheel attended the WHO’s Emergency Early Warning Alter and Response Technical Working Group Meeting as an academic partner.

Meru was invited as a leading guest editor for a special issue on “Preparing and Responding to Global Health Security Threats” with a focus on public health emergencies in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Meru has been selected for Communicable Diseases Network of Australia Observership for 2020.

Pip Binns was invited to deploy as an epidemiologist/public health physician with AUSMAT to the Samoan measles response in December 2019. Other MAE graduates and one current student also participated in rotations. The MAE team is working on developing links with the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre to highlight the contribution the MAE Program makes to Australia’s public health workforce and explore options of working together.

Media interest

Meru was profiled in Six Shining Lights for HerCanberra’s December 2019 issue.

Progress on research projects

Sam, Luis Furuya-Kanamori, and members from Global Health have completed and submitted a WHO TB and Disability review to WPRO.