Australia’s Ambassador for Regional Health Security and the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security are pleased to host the inaugural Ruth Bishop Address on Health Security.
‘From HIV to Zika – building on lessons learnt to be fully prepared for what might be next’
The address will be introduced by the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ms Frances Adamson, and delivered by Professor Sharon Lewin AO, Director of The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.
The event will also welcome the first ASEAN-Australia Health Security Fellows, who will be undertaking master’s degrees in applied epidemiology at the Australian National University from 2019.
This event is hosted by The Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security.
About Professor Sharon Lewin AO, FRACP, PhD, FAHMS
Sharon Lewin is the inaugural director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital; Professor of Medicine, The University of Melbourne; consultant infectious diseases physician, Alfred Hospital and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellow, Melbourne, Australia. The Doherty Institute employs over 700 staff with the overall vision to improve health globally through discovery research and the prevention, treatment and cure of infectious diseases.
She is an infectious diseases physician and basic scientist. Her research focuses on understanding why HIV persists on treatment and developing clinical trials aimed at ultimately finding a cure for HIV infection. She has given over 100 major invited talk internationally on the topic of an HIV cure and has published over 250 papers. She is also the lead investigator for the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Planning on Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE) – an NHMRC funded Centre for Research Excellence that involves over 20 organisations across Australia. She is a member of the council of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, an elected member of the Governing Council of the International AIDS Society (IAS) representing the Asia Pacific region and co-chairs the IAS Global Advisory board for the Towards an HIV Cure initiative.
In 2014 she was named Melburnian of the Year and in 2015 awarded the Peter Will Medal from Research Australia. She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019.
About Professor Ruth Bishop AO
Professor Ruth Bishop AO led a team of researchers to the landmark discovery of rotavirus in 1973, a major breakthrough in tackling one of the most significant causes of infant mortality worldwide. The team’s discovery kick-started the successful 30 year endeavour to develop a rotavirus vaccine. An oral rotavirus vaccination has been part of the National Immunisation Program for all Australian infants since July 2007, which prevents 10,000 children’s hospitalisations in Australia, and the loss of up to half a million young lives every year. In 2009, the World Health Organization in recommended all children be vaccinated against rotavirus infection. If implemented effectively, this will see millions of lives saved in developing countries. Professor Bishop was the first woman to be awarded the Florey Medal in 2013.