Prof Fay Johnston

Professor Fay Johnston is public health physician and environmental epidemiologist who is lead investigator of the Centre for Safe Air, a NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence.  As head of the environmental health research group at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, her main research areas include bushfires, climate change, air quality and health, and interventions for protecting health from airborne hazards.

Prof Camille Rayne-Greenow

Professor Camille Raynes-Greenow a perinatal epidemiologist, School of Public Health, and Deputy Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Her research focus is on modifiable risk factors that can reduce the burden of disease in the perinatal period, for women and their babies.  She has major collaborations in Bangladesh, and is leading NHMRC funded research into defining the impact of household air pollution on pregnancy outcomes and child health, growth and development.  She recently published a chapter in a new book examining the evidence of Health Effects of Wildfire Smoke During Pregnancy and Childhood.

Prof Anthony White

Anthony White obtained a PhD in neuroscience from Murdoch University in 1996, then undertook a post-doctoral position at University of Melbourne investigating Alzheimer’s and prion diseases. He worked at Imperial College of Medicine, UK, in 2001 studying immunotherapeutic approaches to prion diseases. He obtained an NHMRC RD Wright Fellowship (2004-2008) and established a research group at the Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne investigating the role of biometals in neurodegeneration, and development of metal-based drugs for treatment of these disorders. He received an ARC Future Fellowship in 2011, was recruited to QIMR Berghofer in 2016, and was awarded an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship in 2017. His research has contributed to the development of first-in-class metal-drugs as a potential new therapeutic approach to treat motor neuron disease. He is currently developing new human patient-based models of neurodegeneration including microglia, 3D cultures, and organoids to investigate the impact of climate factors on human brain health.

A/Prof Peter Franklin 

Associate Professor Peter Franklin is an environmental and occupational epidemiologist at the School of Population and Global Health (SPGH), University of Western Australia (UWA). He also holds a government position in the Environmental Health Directorate, Western Australian Department of Health (DoH). His research interests include the health effects of air pollution (indoor and outdoor), mining exposures and disease, and early life environmental exposures and children’s health. He is Director of the Occupational Respiratory Epidemiology research group at SPGH and a member of the children’s environmental health group at the Telethon Kids Institute. He teaches environmental and occupational health, and epidemiology in the Masters of Public Health program at SPGH.

A/Prof Franklin also has a position as Senior Scientific Officer in the Environmental Health Directorate at the WA Department of Health. In this role he provides advice on environmental hazards, such as asbestos, landscape fires, air quality, contaminated sites, and pesticides.

Prof Graeme Zosky

Professor Graeme Zosky is Associate Dean Research Performance for the College of Health and Medicine at the University of Tasmania. Graeme has over two decades of experience in the tertiary sector spanning learning and teaching, research, performance management and strategy. Professor Zosky’s research program focusses on chronic lung disease with a particular emphasis on environmental determinants of respiratory health. Graeme is a Chief Investigator in the Centre for Safe Air, has published >140 articles in the field and has attracted >$15 million in research funding.

Dr Shannon Melody

Dr Shannon Melody is a Public Health Physician passionate about translation of research to inform public health practice, particularly concerning the social, environmental and commercial determinants of health. Shannon has worked in a range of public health roles, spanning government, university and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service sectors. Currently working as a Specialist Medical Advisor in the Communicable Diseases Prevention Unit in Public Health Services, Department of Health, Tasmania, she has extensive experience in communicable disease and immunisation practice and policy. Shannon completed a PhD in environmental epidemiology exploring possible associations between maternal exposure to air pollution and a range of perinatal and obstetric outcomes in the Australian context.

Prof Lidia Morawska

Lidia Morawska is a Distinguished Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, at the Queensland University of Technology. She conducts fundamental and applied research in the interdisciplinary field of air quality and its impact on human health and the environment, with a specific focus on science of airborne particulate matter. Lidia has been involved at the executive level with a number of relevant national/international professional bodies, is a member of the Australian Academy of Science, Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences, Royal Society of Biology and acting as an advisor to the World Health Organization.

Mr Deren Pillay 

Deren (“Dee-wren”) holds a Bachelor of Medical Science (Hons) and MBBS from the University of Sydney. He completed a Master of Public Health at the University of Queensland. Deren is currently a public health medicine trainee at the Menzies Institute of Medical Research, University of Tasmania where he works within the EnHealth group. He has also previously worked within the Centre for Safe Air.

Dr Suki Jaiswal

Suki Jaiswal is an optometrist and final year PhD researcher in the field of bushfire smoke and the eye surface. With the support of a postgraduate scholarship from Natural Hazards Research Australia and the Barbara Hall Fellowship from Australian Graduate Women, she has investigated how short- and long-term smoke exposure affects eye health. Working closely with Australian emergency service agencies, she aims to understand the occupational hazards faced by wildland firefighters and enhance their eyecare and protection strategies. In addition to research, Suki has been a practicing optometrist for the last 10 years and she teaches anterior eye disease and clinical optometry skills at the University of New South.