Public Health Seminar Series

The School of Population Health Seminar Series offers an opportunity for staff, students and others with an interest in public health research to learn more about the research and related activity of the School. Seminars are held most Wednesdays between 12pm and 1pm and are available online through Microsoft Teams. If you would like more information about the Seminar Series, or if you have suggestions regarding speakers and or topics (including your own) please contact Michele Rains-Joseph. Upcoming seminars may be found at Events.

Watch seminar videos

Multi-method computational modelling to build evidence supporting planning, preparedness and decision making in high risk health protection, security and operational response contexts

Dr David Heslop, Associate Professor School of Public Health and Community Medicine UNSW Sydney, Senior Medical Adviser for CBRNE to Special Operations Headquarters Australia and to Australian Defence Force (ADF) joint senior leadership

In this talk recent developments in multi-method computational modelling approaches incorporating Agent Based Modelling coupled with Discrete Event and Systems Dynamics, supported by the recent increased availability of low cost high performance computing resources, will be discussed. How these can be used to answer questions about policies that cannot be easily investigated in real life will be discussed, using examples of current research projects at the SPHCM exploring how health systems and health policies perform under extreme conditions such as mass casualty events and mass contamination events. <Download flyer> (Presented: 31 May 2017)

Environmental and public health impacts of nuclear versus renewable energy: Deconstructing arguments and exposing subjective judgements

Dr Mark Diesendorf was Associate Professor in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney

Public understanding and government policy on climate and energy policy is polarized. In the UK and several other countries nuclear and renewable energy are competing for providing the major part of the solution to the global climate crisis. This seminar will deconstruct the arguments of both sides in this debate, exposing the assumptions and subjective judgements of the contenders and the presenter. <Download flyer> (Presented: 17 May 2017)

Rethinking health Planning; using a spatial approach in Public Health

Dr Ori Gudes, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney

This talk explores the topic of GeoHealth and the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Public Health. Specifically we will explore why GIS or spatial technologies are used in health, how primary health care can be improved with spatial analysis, the applicable health disciplines and the use of GIS and Health in QLD and WA. We will also consider future trends and GIS research and discuss other possibilities for measuring, analysing and understanding disease and health using spatial technology. <Download flyer> (Presented: 10 May 2017)

Improving Hospital Death Certification in Viet Nam: Results of a pilot study implementing an adapted WHO hospital death report form in two national hospitals

Professor Merrilyn Walton, AM, University of Sydney

Viet Nam does not have a system for the national collection of death data that meets international requirements for mortality reporting. It is identified as a ‘no-report’ country by the World Health Organization. Verbal autopsy reports is used in the community but excludes deaths in hospitals. This study confirms the viability of implementing a death report form system compliant with international standards in hospitals in Viet Nam and provides the foundation for introducing a national death report form scheme. <Download flyer> (Presented: 26 April 2017)

Using data linkage with the 45 and Up dataset to understand alternative methods of measuring vaccine coverage for influenza and to understand the factors associated with gastroenteritis in middle-aged and older Australians

Analie Dyda and Yingxi (Cimo) Chen, SPHCM PhD Graduates, UNSW Sydney

This seminar describes findings from the 45 and Up study, a large prospective cohort study investigating healthy aging, and other routinely collected datasets. Amalie reports the use of the linked data to investigate alternate methods of measuring vaccination coverage, and predictors of influenza and pertussis vaccination using chi-squared tests and logistic regression. Yingxi (Cimo) Chen describes the epidemiology of gastroenteritis, and investigates factors associated with hospitalisation with all-cause and cause-specific gastroenteritis in this large cohort of middle-aged and older Australians. <Download flyer> (Presented: 19 April 2017)

Delivering better health care for and with people with intellectual disability

Tracey Szanto, Manager of the Intellectual Disability Health Network, Agency for Clinical Innovation, NSW Health

Tracey will speak about the establishment, evaluation and functions of the NSW intellectual disability health network and three pilot health teams under NSW Health. This work has included co-design with consumers, carers and clinicians alongside the development of a resource pack and self – assessment toolkit for health services to support them deliver health services for people with intellectual disability. <Download flyer> (Presented: 4 April 2017)

Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases: Threats to Pacific Human Health and Security

Dr Salanieta T Saketa, Public Health Physician and medical epidemiologist, Fiji Public Health System

Prevention and control of infectious diseases will not only require expertise on epidemiology, surveillance and disease management but also changes in human behaviour and an enabling environment both at the national and regional levels. A concerted strategy on infectious diseases that cuts across relevant sectors driven by enhanced surveillance, rapid and prompt response, partnership building and collaboration, complemented with a robust research and monitoring and evaluation component to guide policy development is a must. <Download flyer> (Presented: 31 March 2017)

MedicineInsight – a new era in primary care data for Australia

Dr Rob Menzies, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Sydney

MedicineInsight is a new GP continuous quality improvement program and source of data from primary health care, funded by the Australian Government and administered by NPS Medicinewise. Rob was one of a small number of researchers selected in 2015 to conduct experimental analyses in preparation for it becoming available to researchers more broadly. He evaluated the data on medical risk factors and influenza vaccination coverage. <Download flyer> (Presented: 29 March 2017)

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and severe asthma in sub-groups of high-risk children: A population based cohort study

Dr Nusrat Homaira, Lecturer, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW Sydney

There is ongoing debate on the contribution of RSV disease to subsequent development of asthma in children. This study sought to determine the risk of subsequent asthma in different groups of high-risk children who developed severe RSV disease at a population level. The cohort comprised 847,516 children born between 2000-2011. Findings suggest that the hazard of first asthma hospitalisation in children who had a RSV hospitalisation was higher than children who did not persisted and this risk persisted beyond seven years of age. (Presented: 22 March 2017)

Addressing Antibiotic Resistance in the True North and an Overview of Public Health Research at UBC Vancouver?

Professor David Patrick, Public Health, University of British Columbia, Canada

Australia and Canada share a great deal, including the challenge of developing coordinated national strategies against antimicrobial resistance. Such strategies are critical to mitigating the threat posed to health status and health systems by the emergence of resistant organisms. <Download flyer> (Presented: 15 March 2017)

School of Population Health