Research Officer, Infectious Diseases Epidemiology
MInfecDis MPhil(App Epi)
Anita is a microbiological scientist and experienced infectious disease epidemiologist specialising in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and infection prevention and control.
Currently Anita is working on describing the AMR landscape in children across Australia, including developing a biennial report for the Australian Government from the national surveillance system of bacteraemia isolates (AGAR Kids). Additionally, Anita is investigating the costs and burden of AMR in children. Anita is also developing a study to describe the household transmission of RSV, Influenza, and other respiratory viruses to understand the dynamics of viral spread in the community.
Prior to moving to TKI, Anita led Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) programs investigating how AMR impacts the organisations work in low-resourced and conflict-affected settings. During this time Anita published several studies describing the epidemiology of AMR from where MSF works, mentored several people through the MSF/WHO Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT-IT) and led a course on operational research in AMR. During this time Anita also supervised several Masters students, and worked with national governments to understand the impact of AMR globally, including crafting a written submission to the UK Government All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antibiotics about the impact of antimicrobial resistance and the necessity of access to clean water, which was used to guide future Department of International Development (DfID) funding.
Before working for MSF, Anita worked in diagnostic clinical and public health laboratories in Australia and the UK.