BURDEN, RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTION OF RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN CHILDREN
Associate Professor Hannah Moore OAM
Program Head, Infection and Vaccines,
The Kids Research Institute Australia &
Associate Professor at the School of Population Health, Curtin University
Western Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE (Filmed in Perth, Western Australia | December 2024)
A/Prof Hannah Moore OAM is an infectious disease epidemiologist; Co-Head of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology team within the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at The Kids Research Institute Australia and Associate Professor at the School of Population Health, Curtin University in Western Australia.
Her passion for research involves using population-based data to investigate how to recognise, prevent and reduce serious respiratory and other infectious diseases in children through estimating burden of disease and evaluating the effectiveness of vaccination programs. She has developed expertise in the epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in young children, where her research was pivotal in WA Governments’ decision to establish the first and most comprehensive RSV infant immunisation program in the nation. Raising awareness of RSV, understanding community burden and evaluating the impact of prevention measures is now a major focus of her research program. She has previously contributed to state and national influenza vaccination policy.
In 2020 A/Prof Moore joined the Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium (SAVAC) to increase knowledge and awareness of the global burden of Group A Streptococcal diseases. She now holds an activity lead position in the US$11M-funded SAVAC 2.0.
A/Prof Moore has been awarded more than $19M in competitive research grants, co-authored more than 140 papers, was TEDxPerth 2018 speaker, recipient of a WA Young Tall Poppy Award (2013) and the WA Premiers Science Early Career Scientist Award (2015). In 2024, she was honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to epidemiology as a researcher.
Editor’s note: At the time of recording in September 2024, A/Prof Hannah Moore makes reference to needing a national RSV immunisation program. Efforts by her and others in campaigning were successful and in November 2024 the Australian National Immunisation Program was updated to include RSV from 2025. https://www.health.gov.au/news/national-immunisation-program-update-rsv-vaccine#:~:text=The%20inclusion%20of%20the%20RSV,announced%20as%20soon%20as%20possible.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4920-9991
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Cellular interactions responsible for development, maintenance, and strength of the skeleton
Professor Sims directs the Bone Cell Biology and Disease Unit at St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research and is a Professorial Fellow at The University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University.
She leads a team who studies the cellular interactions responsible for development, maintenance, and strength of the skeleton. She completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide, followed by postdoctoral work at the Garvan Institute in Sydney then at Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Connecticut, where she studied the role of the estrogen receptor in regulating bone structure.
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At the frontier of human cellular neuroscience research
Associate Professor Cedric Bardy is the Director of The Laboratory for Human Neurophysiology, Genetics & Stem Cells, located at SAHMRI. South Australia.
His current research uses preclinical, patient-derived cell models to test innovative therapeutic strategies, with a current focus on Parkinson’s disease, brain cancer and childhood dementia (Sanfilippo syndrome).
His work has established a platform to facilitate the discovery and validation of treatments for brain disorders. Their research is at the frontier of human cellular neuroscience research and translational applications that benefit global public health.
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ROCK-induced early-onset bowel cancer progression
Professor Michael Samuel is a cell biologist whose research interest is in understanding how cancer mechanobiology influences the tumour microenvironment, thereby promoting tumour progression. He is Professor of Matrix Biology at the University of South Australia, Adelaide and heads the Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory at the Centre for Cancer Biology and the Cancer Mechanotherapies Laboratory at the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research.
