Disease Elimination

  • The elimination of HIV, viral hepatitis, malaria and tuberculosis as public health threats underpins our focus on prevention, harm reduction, vaccines, diagnostics and treatment strategies.

This program strives to eliminate public health threats posed by several serious infectious diseases in Australia and globally.

Globally, millions of people die each year from the preventable infectious diseases – HIV, malaria and viral hepatitis (B and C).


Including tuberculosis, they are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in our region and affect vulnerable communities in Australia. Many of these diseases occur as comorbidities, exacerbating illness and death. An estimated 650 million people are living with a chronic infectious disease, and billions more are at risk.

Through this program, Burnet will:

  • Strive to eliminate public health threats posed by several serious infectious diseases in Australia and globally aligned with disease elimination targets set by the World Health Organization
  • Aim to reduce the prevalence of hepatitis C in Australia by 50 percent and stop new Australian HIV transmissions by 2020
  • Make a major contribution to malaria elimination in our region.

A two-way pipeline will be created where our research discoveries can be tested in the field, and field programs inform discovery research through our long-standing connections with vulnerable target populations in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, China and in other African, Asian and Pacific countries.

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Contact Details

Professor Heidi Drummer

Co-Program Director, Disease Elimination; Scientific Director, Burnet Diagnostics Initiative; Principal Investigator, Burnet Vaccine Initiative; Co-Head, Viral Entry and Vaccines Group

Telephone

+61392822179

Email

heidi.drummer@burnet.edu.au


Projects

  • A novel biomarker for gut leakage as a diagnostic tool for HIV disease progression

  • Fc Receptor Targeted Treatments in Inflammation and Allergy

  • A GIFT (Genital Inflammation Test) for HIV Prevention

  • A novel gel for targeting vaginal inflammation to prevent HIV transmission

  • A unique approach to anti-inflammatory immune therapy

  • ACCESS: The Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmitted Infections

  • ACE2 inhibitors for treatment of COVID-19

  • Age-related immune dysfunction may underpin poor COVID-19 outcomes in the elderly

  • Ageing Well with HIV

  • Anti-COVID-19 biological drugs for prevention and treatment

  • Antibody engineering to study responses mediating protective immunity

  • Antibody mAbs to destroy infection: engineering the next generation treatments

  • Antimicrobial and immune modulatory effects of vaginal microbiota metabolites

  • Assessing the feasibility of an integrated HIV cascade of care surveillance system in Myanmar (ACCESS Myanmar)

  • Barriers to hepatocellular carcinoma screening uptake in Victoria

  • Bat viruses and antiviral immunity❗PhD Projects Available

  • Blood-borne virus and STI self-testing❗Student Projects Available

  • Breaking the cycle: supporting people with drug use histories to avoid reincarceration

  • Broadly neutralising anti-HIV antibodies and Fc Receptor function

  • Building a Centre of Excellence for Research and Training for DR-TB in Daru, Papua New Guinea

  • Burnet Diagnostics Initiative (BDI) Consulting

  • Burnet Microbiome Initiative

  • Cancer information compared to Hepatitis B information to INcreAse hepatitis B testing in Melbourne’s Chinese community (CHINA-B study)

  • Clinical studies on malaria

  • Community-Based Rapid HIV Testing Services

  • Coping with COVID-19: Young people’s health and wellbeing in Australia

  • COVASIM: Modelling COVID-19

  • COVID-19 antigens for PoC test development

  • COVID-19 Vaccine Development

  • DARE C: ATAHC II Substudy

  • Decision science using Optima

  • Demonstrating the impact of next generation Cepheid tools in TB

  • Depo Provera and Beyond

  • Developing new antimalarial drugs that block protein trafficking

  • Developing vaccines against malaria

  • Development of a novel prophylactic vaccine candidate for HIV-1

  • Development of a universal prophylactic vaccine for Hepatitis C

  • Development of hydrogel based intravaginal drug delivery device

  • Diagnostic accuracy of Molbio Truenat for diagnosis of TB and rifampicin resistance

  • Discovering the mechanisms and targets of immunity against malaria

  • Discovery of new treatments for myeloma and myelogenous leukemia

  • EC Australia: Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia Partnership

  • EC Partnership: Eliminate Hepatitis C Partnership

  • EC Victoria – Summary

  • EDRS: Ecstasy and related Drugs Reporting System

  • Engaging men to improve family health and prevent gender-based violence

  • ESCAPE-TB: Enhanced screening and preventive therapy for TB in Daru, PNG

  • Evaluating a highly sensitive rapid malaria diagnostic in PNG

  • Evaluation of Malaria Case-Based Reporting using a mobile phone application in Myanmar

  • Evaluation of the Multicultural Drug and Alcohol Service

  • EVE-M

  • Evelyn Lavu Travel Scholarship

  • Exploring alcohol and other drug use among migrant communities in Victoria

  • Feasibility and Outcomes of the Public Sector Hepatitis C Treatment Program in Myanmar

  • Feasibility study for a potential medically supervised injecting centre/drug consumption service for the ACT

  • Getting to the heart of cardiovascular disease in HIV

  • Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) Deficiency

  • HCV Elimination Modelling

  • Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies

  • Hepatitis B discrimination and health service access.

  • Hepatitis B Modelling

  • Hepatitis C brief reports

  • Hepatitis C: Community Testing and Treatment (CT2)

  • HepSeeVax: Proof-of-concept study of an HCV vaccine candidate

  • HIV Prevention Cohort

  • Host and parasite factors that predict Artemisinin Resistance reservoirs

  • Host red blood cell modification sustains the virulence of malaria parasites

  • Identifying the barriers to hepatitis B clinical management: the perspectives of people with hepatitis B.

  • Identifying the structural enablers to the clinical management of people with hepatitis B in general practice: a qualitative investigation

  • IDRS: Illicit Drug Reporting System

  • Immunity, drug efficacy and spread of antimalarial drug resistance

  • Impact of a vaginal microbiota metabolite on epithelium integrity and HIV susceptibility

  • Impact of declining transmission on immunity and risk of malaria rebound

  • Improved point-of-care test to eliminate congenital syphilis

  • Improving Tuberculosis Services in Timor-Leste

  • Intrinsic host antiviral activity against pathogenic viruses

  • Major advances in understanding malaria immunity and biology

  • Mechanism of antimalarial drug action

  • Modelling for evidence-based national hepatitis B testing plans

  • Modelling hepatitis C virus elimination and control policies in Myanmar

  • Mucosal injury from sexual contact (MISC)

  • National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce

  • NATNAT: Newly Adapted Tools and Network Against Mosquito Borne Disease Transmission

  • Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Snapshot Study

  • Neutralising antibody assays for COVID-19

  • New media and technology in health promotion practice

  • Novel PoC Testing for Diagnosis of Active Syphilis in Pregnant Women and Infants in Fiji

  • Novel reagents for the serological diagnosis of tuberculosis

  • Optima HIV Modelling

  • Optima Malaria Modelling

  • Optima Tuberculosis (TB) Modelling

  • Optimal community-delivered malaria elimination models for the Greater Mekong Sub-region

  • Optimising Quarantine Study

  • Pornography and Young People

  • Preclinical Clinical Evaluation of Candidate Microbicides

  • Predicting quality and potency of monoclonal and natural antibodies

  • PrEPX: Rapid scale-up of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)

  • Project Geldom

  • PRONTO! Rapid HIV point-of-care testing in Victoria

  • Rapid and accurate diagnosis of TB: New trial in PNG

  • RID-TB Patient Education and Counselling

  • RID-TB: Reducing the Impact of Drug-Resistant TB in Western Province, PNG

  • SCOOP: Strengthening COVID-19 Communication in Pregnancy

  • Serological surveillance to identify mosquito exposure and malaria transmission

  • Sex, Drugs, and Rock'n'Roll (Big Day Out Study)

  • Sexual health and STIs among people who use drugs❗Student Projects Available

  • SHARP: Screening for Hepatitis in At-Risk Populations

  • SHARP: Sexual Health And Risk Prevention Study

  • SimDrink: Using simulation modelling to perform alcohol policy experiments

  • SRH survey of Chinese-speaking international students

  • SRHIP: Sexual & Reproductive Health Integration Project

  • Stellabody®

  • Stellabody® Technology in Cancer Therapy

  • STRIVE PNG: Stronger Surveillance and Systems Support for Rapid Identification and Containment of Resurgent or Resistant Vector-Borne Pathogens in Papua New Guinea

  • SuperMIX: The Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study

  • Tackling TB and HIV Together in Papua New Guinea

  • TAIPAN: HIV cascade surveillance

  • Targeting HIV-infected macrophages to achieve an HIV cure

  • Targeting novel sites on reverse transcriptase for HIV treatment and prevention

  • The elimination of hepatitis C as a global public health threat

  • The EZARET Study: Exploring Zoonotic Association and Risks for Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in PNG

  • The Gist

  • The impact of viral infections on immune ageing

  • The International Collaboration on Hepatitis C Elimination in HIV Cohorts (InCHEHC)

  • The Optimise Study: Optimising Isolation, Quarantine and Distancing for COVID-19

  • The persistence of HIV in monocytes and macrophages

  • The PharmEC REACH study

  • The QuickStart Study

  • The role of female genital tract microbial function in inflammation and HIV infection risk.

  • The role of monocytes in the development of cardiovascular disease

  • The Social and Cultural Determinants of TB in Daru [SCuD-TB Daru – Study 1]

  • traQ Study: Transparent Risk Assessment of Quarantine

  • TRYP: Transitions and Risk in Young People project

  • Understanding the connection between inflammation and cancer

  • Understanding the correlates of protection for hepaciviruses

  • Vaccines against Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum malaria

  • VOICE - Victorian Online Initiative for Community Engagement

  • West Sepik Covid-19 Vaccination Advocacy Project

  • What drives hepatitis C reinfection?

  • Zero TB initiative Yogyakarta

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