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A global pandemic needs a global response
Leaders at the Nossal Institute provide a global agenda for addressing Covid-19. Read more here.
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Disability inclusion and Covid-19. What future do we want?
Dr Alex Robinson highlights the impact of Covid-19 on people with disability. Read more here.
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Who to believe: social media or government? The challenge of coronavirus in Indonesia
Dr Kris Hort considers the significance of information and communication in managing coronavirus in Indonesia. Read more here.
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Call for manuscripts: Implementation Science to Practice Healthcare Organization and Management
The Journal of Health Organization and Management will be running a Special Issue in 2020, themed Implementation Science to Practice in Healthcare Organization and Management. Read more here.
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Indian Government visit to the University to discuss engagement in disability
In March, Chancellery International hosted an official delegation from the Indian Government to further develop the University's work with India around disability. Read more here.
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Collaboration on One Health Economics Research for Systems (COHERES)
The Nossal Institute for Global Health is leading a new project funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Australian Centre for Health Security. Read more here.
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Opportunities for Professional Development
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*Please note: as a result of measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, all our subjects will be conducted online in 2020.
Global Health and Human Rights
18, 19 and 24 - 26 June 2020
More information and online application
Non Communicable Disease and Global Health
13 - 17 July 2020
More information and online application
Comparative Health Systems
20 - 24 July 2020
More information and online application
Planetary and Global Health
27 - 31 July 2020
More information and online application
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HIV & AIDS: An Evolving Global Response
13 August - 24 September 2020
More information and online application
Primary Health Care and Global Health
14 - 28 August 2020
More information and online application
Disability and Global Development
5 - 9 October 2020
More information and online application
Global Child Health
2 - 6 November 2020
More information and online application
Primary Health Care in Jamkhed, India (wait-list only)
29 November - 20 December 2020
More information and online application
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Dr Daniel Strachan joins the Maternal, Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit as a Senior Technical Advisor. He is a social scientist who is interested in understanding community approaches to health in the belief that doing so supports more equitable and effective health system development and healthier communities. His research focus in recent years has been understanding and utilising the role of community health workers as members of both the community and health system to enable children to first survive then thrive. While this work has primarily been in Uganda and Mozambique, he has worked on a range of research and development projects across Eastern and Southern Africa as well as in Australia. He arrives from University College London’s Institute for Global Health where he was Lecturer in Global Health and co-Director of UCL’s MSc in Global Health and Development. He will be supporting the MSRH Unit’s ongoing health systems strengthening work with UNICEF and is looking forward to expanding the geographic focus of his work to the Asia Pacific while retaining his research interests in East Africa. This includes an initial focus on understanding community perspectives of climate change, energy consumption and health in Central Australia.
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Clare Strachan has joined as a Senior Technical Consultant and will be working across units. Clare has a broad range of specializations and interests including communicable disease control, health systems strengthening, community health and development, epidemic preparedness and response, health financing and governance, and implementation science, across diverse low- and middle-income settings. Her technical work has focused on operational research, large scale evaluations and strategic reviews, evidence-based program design and implementation, and technical advisory support and capacity building at regional, national and sub-national levels. Clare joins from Cambridge Economic Policy Associates (CEPA) in London, where she headed up the Global Health practice. Prior to this, Clare has worked on various public health implementation, advisory and research projects in both Africa and Asia since 2004. Clare has also held a teaching role in heath economics at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine since 2012.
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Annie Nguyen completed Master of Professional Accounting and Graduate Diploma of Finance at RMIT in 2006 and started working at University of Melbourne ever since.
Over the last 14 years, Annie has worked in various finance roles and is well-versed in finance administration, budgeting, reporting managing finances for external contracts , at different departments across the University: University services, MSPGH and MDHS prior to her current role at MGSE. Annie enjoys working with numbers and providing support to staff. On the personal side, Annie enjoys spending time with her family. She has 2 lovely boys , 7 and 11, who keep her busy and laugh at home.
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Chrissy Keenan is joining the Education and Learning team after working with the University of Melbourne and the Nossal Institute in different capacities. She has worked with the ARC-funded research project exploring women’s experiences with cervical cancer and the health system response to cervical cancer in Indonesia by completing a thematic review of the lived experiences and survivorship stories of women with gynaecological cancers in Asia. She more recently has worked on a scoping review of literature, policies, and programs regarding interventions targeted at reducing violence against women and girls in Indonesia. Chrissy moved to Melbourne from the United States this past September 2019 after completing a Master of Public Health with a Certificate in Sexuality, Sexual, and Reproductive Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Her strong interests in sexual and reproductive health have led her to pursuing various roles, from sexual violence prevention and awareness activism to the facilitation of sexuality and sexual health education for adolescents. Since her move to Melbourne, Chrissy has completed a birth doula training and is pursuing full certification as a birth doula while also offering postpartum support services.
Lucky Alfred Dorey is a versatile, dynamic worker. He has a strong history of snuggling and requesting constant pets, and he is extremely experienced at playing fetch with his ball. He is a clear communicator, always reminding his humans when it is time for play, rest, or dinner, or when it is too chilly and he needs his sweater. Lucky has experience assisting Chrissy with working from home as well as helping his mom (Chrissy's housemate) teach, mentor, and supervise her high school students. Lucky brings enthusiasm, loyalty, and an unbeatable amount of adorable-ness to the workplace.
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Recent Publications
Adair, T., Rajasekhar, M., Bo, K.S., Hart, J., Kwa, V., Mukut, A. A., Reeve, M., Richards, N., Ronderos-Torres, M., de Savigny, D., Munoz, D.C. & Lopez, A.D. (2020). Where there is no hospital: improving the notification of community deaths. BMC Medicine 18: 65.
This paper demonstrates the significant potential for improving death reporting through the implementation of notification practices tailored to a country’s specific circumstances, including geography, cultural factors, structure of the existing CRVS system, and available human, information and communication technology resources. Read more here.
Anderson, P., Grills, N., Singh, R., Singh, R., Evans, R.G., Sengupta, P. and Thrift, A.G. (2019). Prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in rural Tehri Garhwal, India: influence of diagnostic method. BMC Public Health 19: 817.
This study researched the prevalence of diabetes in villages in Chamba, a rural, mountainous Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand in north-west India. The diagnostic performances of different blood measurements or tests was explored, along with any potential relation of pre-diabetes diagnoses with anemia, which is an endemic condition in India. The authors call for further investigation into these different diagnostic methods. Read more here.
Asefa, A., Gebremedhin, S., Messele, T., Letamo, Y., Shibru, E., Alano, A., Morgan, A. & Kermode, M. (2019). Mismatch between antenatal care attendance and institutional delivery in south Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis. BMJ Open 9: 3.
This article discusses the results of a community-based cross-sectional survey investigating predictors of non-institutional delivery among women who had at least one antenatal visit in the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region in Ethiopia. Factors such as previous experiences of short, simple labours or uncomplicated home births and fear of being poorly received by health service providers were examples of main reasons women had non-institutional delivery. This study calls for more innovative solutions to increase the proportion of institutional deliveries among women who seek antenatal care services. Read more here.
Campbell, M.D., Thirunavukkarasu, S., Zimmet, P.Z., Thankappan, K.R., Oldenburg, B., Owens, D.R., Shaw, J.E. & Tapp, R.J. (2020). Benefit of lifestyle-based T2DM prevention is influenced by prediabetes phenotype. Nature Reviews Endocrinology.
These authors note the global importance of preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) through early action interventions and urge the pursuit of further research examining the effects of lifestyle-based diabetes prevention programs. Read more here.
Cherian, A.V., Lukose, A., Rappai, R., Sagar, K.J.V. & Armstrong, G. (2020). Adolescent suicide in India: significance of public health prevention plan. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 49.
This letter to the editor calls for urgent action by key stakeholders such as policy makers and health-sector workers to develop adolescent suicide prevention measures in India. Read more here.
Gamage, D.G., Riddell, M.A., Joshi, R., Thankappan, K.R., Chow, C.K., Oldenburg, B., Evans, R.G., Mahal, A.S., Kalyanram, K., Kartik, K., Suresh, O., Thomas, N., Mini, G.K., Maulik, P.K., Srikanth, V.K., Arabshahi, S., Varma, R.P., Guggilla, R.K., D’Esposito, R., Sathish, T., Alim, M., Thrift, A.G. (2020). Effectiveness of a scalable group-based education and monitoring program, delivered by health workers, to improve control of hypertension in rural India: A cluster randomised controlled trial. PLOS Medicine 17.
Managing hypertension in resource-poor settings is an especially difficult yet crucial task. This article explores the effects of a community health worker (CHW)-led group-based education and monitoring intervention on improving the control of blood pressure (BP) in three rural regions of South India. Read more here.
Gong, E., Zhang, Z., Jin, X., Yan, L., Zhong, L., Wu, Y., Zhong, X., Yan, L.L., Oldenburg, B. & Xu, L.Q. (2020). Quality, Functionality and Features of Chinese Mobile Applications for Diabetes Self-Management: Systematic Searching and Evaluation of Mobile Apps. JMIR mHealth and uHealth. [in press]
Grills, N.J., Hoq, M., Wong, C.P., Allagh, K., Singh, L., Soji, F. & Murthy, G.V.S. (2020). Disabled People’s Organisations increase access to services and improve well-being: evidence from a cluster randomized trial in North India. BMC Public Health 20: 145.
This is the first randomised control trial to demonstrate that Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) in LMICs are effective at improving participation, access and well-being. This study supports the ongoing role of DPOs in activities related to disability inclusion and disability services. This study also suggests that supporting the establishment, facilitation and strengthening of DPOs is a cost-effective intervention and role that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can play. Read more here.
Haregu, T., Oldenburg, B., Lee, J. & Armstrong, G. (2020). Comorbid depression and obesity: Correlates and synergistic association with non-communicable diseases among Australian men. Preventing Chronic Disease. [in press]
Hart, J.D., Sorchik, R., Bo, K.S., Chowdhury, H.R., Gamage, S., Joshi, R., Kwa, V., Li, H., Mahesh, B.P.K., Mclaughlin, D., Mikkelsen, L., Miki, J., Napulan, R., Rampatige, R., Reeve, M., Sarmiento, C., War, N.S., Richards, N., Riley, I.D. & Lopez, A.D. (2020). Improving medical certification of cause of death: effective strategies and approaches based on experiences from the Data for Health Initiative. BMC Medicine 18: 52.
Accurate and timely cause of death (COD) data are essential for informed public health policymaking. This paper presents three training strategies implemented in five countries supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health (D4H) Initiative at the University of Melbourne (UoM) and evaluate the impact on the quality of certification. Read more here.
Hedrick, K., Armstrong, G. & Borschmann, R. (2019). Self-harm among asylum seekers in Australian immigration detention. The Lancet Public Health 4: 12.
This Lancet Correspondence piece addresses self-harm among asylum seekers in Australian immigration detention and notes the necessity of an evidence-based government response. Read more here.
Leckning, B., Ringbauer, A., Robinson, G., Carey, T.A., Hirvonen, T. & Armstrong, G. (2019). Guidelines for best practice psychosocial assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to hospital with self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Darwin: Menzies School of Health Research.
These evidence-based guidelines provide recommendations for effective and appropriate psychosocial assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who present to hospital with self-harm and suicidal thoughts. These guidelines were informed by available best-practices for improving patient outcomes, professional expertise, and the lived experiences of self-harm and suicidal thoughts among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Read more here.
Onsando, G., Johns, D., Farquharson, K. & Armstrong, G. (2020). Reintegration and resettlement of African Australians released from prison: Towards an Ubuntu framework of support. Melbourne: Melbourne Social Equity Institute.
This report details the research, findings, and proposed policy and practice recommendations of a 12-month pilot project aiming to inform reintegration processes of justice-involved African Australians in Victoria. The researchers note the importance of developing an overall culturally responsive framework that addresses risks of reoffending and enables socioeconomic participation. Read more here.
Ravindranath, R., Oldenburg, B., Balachandran, S., Mini, G.K., Sathish, T., Mahat, K. & Thankappan, K.R. (2020). Scale-up of the Kerala Diabetes Prevention Program (K-DPP) in Kerala, India: implementation evaluation findings. Translational Behavioral Medicine 10: 1.
This article reports on the implementation of the scale-up program of the Kerala Diabetes Prevention Program (K-DPP) in Kerala, India. The authors note the effectiveness of this scale-up program, discussing notable improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors that were measured after this one year intervention. Read more here.
Sorensen, J.B., Pearson, M., Armstrong, G., Anderson, M.W., Weerasinghe, M., Hawton, K., et al. (2020). A discourse analysis of self-harm and suicide in Sri Lankan printed newspapers. Crisis. [In Press]
Young, J., Borschmann, R., Heffernan, E., Spittal, M., Brophy, L., Olgoff, J., et al. (2020). Contact with mental health services after acute care for self-harm among adults released from prison: A prospective data linkage study. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. [In Press]
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