Adrian Marcato

Combining epidemiological and genomic data from a First Few Hundred Study to gain early insight into an influenza pandemic or epidemic In Australia

Principle supervisor: Professor Jodie McVernon
Co-supervisors: Dr Peter Massey, Dr James Fielding, Dr Sebastian Duchene

Pandemic influenza poses a serious threat to Public Health globally, and in Australia. First few hundred studies are a platform for rapid epidemiological data and specimen collection in the early stages of a pandemic from the first few hundred confirmed cases and their household contacts.

We aim to work in conjunction with government health departments and stakeholders, to work through ethics, governance and study design issues, to implement and evaluate a first few hundred pilot study for seasonal influenza. The generated epidemiological and genomic data will be used to understand the transmissibility and severity of the influenza strain, providing unparalleled insight into transmission events within a household in early epidemic phases.  These studies are critical to help inform a proportionate public health response in an infectious disease emergency.

PhD scholarship title and funding body: Scholarship provided by the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies (https://www.apprise.org.au/ )