Happy Holidays
from the Kirby Institute

2018 has been an enormous year for the Kirby Institute, and as the year draws to a close, it is a time to reflect on all that we have gained, and lost, in the past 12 months. 

In the last quarter alone, we have released our Annual Surveillance Reports on HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs, along with the results of EPIC-NSW, the largest population-scale trial of the HIV preventative medication, PrEP. Both these reports are significant, as they have and will continue to inform health policy in Australia, and overseas. We continue to launch impactful new studies, which you can read more about in the research highlights below.

We are also very proud of some academic promotions, which will commence in 2019; Greg Dore was promoted to Scientia Professor, UNSW Sydney's highest academic accolade. He is the Kirby Institute's third Scientia Professor, following the late David Cooper, as well as John Kaldor. Jason Grebely and Andrew Vallely were promoted to Professor for their work in hepatitis C and STIs in Papua New Guinea respectively. Mark Polizzotto and Angela Kelly-Hanku will commence 2019 as Associate Professors. We congratulate our colleagues, who are leaders in their respective fields, on their well-deserved promotions.

The loss of our Director, Professor David Cooper, in March was a significant event for the Kirby, however, we were both moved and inspired by the inundation of support from far and wide during this difficult time. Most of all, we have been invigorated to continue forward with our work in honour of David's vision of equitable access to health for all people, no matter their circumstances. In this vein, there have been some tremendous successes. 

We wish you all a safe and happy holiday period, and look forward to keeping in touch in the new year.