The Kirby Institute congratulates our recent PhD graduates who were able to attend a ceremony held at UNSW last week. This is the first time graduation ceremonies have been re-held at the John Clancy Auditorium since all ceremonies were postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We were delighted to celebrate the achievements of Rosemary Aogo, Xin (Jessie) Chen and Stella Stolk (nee Nalukwago), some of who had completed in 2020 and are now able to attend the graduation ceremony in-person.
Rosemary Aogo’s thesis was entitled “Mathematical modelling to understand the mechanisms of action of antimalarial drugs and host responses in malaria infection”. Her supervisors were Professor Miles Davenport and Dr David Khoury, and Dr Deborah Cromer from our Infection Analytics Program.
Jessie Chen’s thesis was entitled “Advanced Analytical Methods for Outbreak Investigation”. Her supervisors were Professor Raina MacIntyre from our Biosecurity Program; Dr Abrar Chughtai from the School of Population Health, UNSW; and Dr Sacha Stelzer-Braid from the School of Medical Sciences, UNSW.
Stella Stolk’s thesis was entitled “Measuring and valuing societal and offender preferences for treatment programs - an economic perspective”. Her supervisors were Professor Tony Butler from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW; Dr Marian Shanahan from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre; and Professor Georgina Chambers from National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit, UNSW.
We extend our congratulations to the following who have recently completed their PhDs:
- Dillon Adam, "The Molecular Epidemiology, Evolution and Phylogeography of Viral Pathogens of Public Health Significance", primary supervisor: Professor Raina MacIntyre from our Biosecurity Program
- Olayan Albalawi, "Multi-state statistical modelling to investigate the association between serious mental illness and offending behaviour in longitudinally linked data", primary supervisor: Associate Professor Handan Wand from our Biostatistics and Databases Program
- Rimke Bijker, "Non-communicable disease outcomes among adults living with HIV in Asia", primary supervisors: Professor Matthew Law and Dr Awachana Jiamsakul from our Biostatistics and Databases Program
- Sian Goddard, "Anal health in a cohort of older gay and bisexual men", primary supervisors: Associate Professor David Templeton and Dr Mary Poynten from our HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program
- Vera Klemm, "Delivery of RNA therapeutics for an HIV-1 gene therapy cure", primary supervisors: Dr Chantelle Ahlenstiel and Kirby Institute's director Professor Anthony Kelleher from our Immunovirology and Pathogenesis Program
- Brian Mulhall, "Sexually Transmitted Infections: associations in persons with HIV on treatment", primary supervisor: Professor Matthew Law from our Biostatistics and Databases Program
- Gwamaka Mwasakifwa, "Biomarkers of Metabolic Outcomes of Second-Line Antiretroviral Therapy Regimens in Low and Middle-Income Countries", primary supervisors: Professor Anthony Kelleher, from our Immunovirology and Pathogenesis Program and the Kirby Institute’s Director and Professor Janaki Amin, Department of Health Systems and Populations, Macquarie University
- Pamela Toliman, "Innovative approaches for cervical cancer screening in Papua New Guinea: Evaluation of novel point-of-care test and treat algorithms in a high-burden setting", primary supervisor Professor Andrew Vallely from our Public Health Interventions Research Program
- Luh Putu Lila Wulandari, "HIV risk behaviours and solutions among men who purchase sex in Indonesia", primary supervisor: Professor John Kaldor from our Public Health Interventions Research Program
- Handurugamage Manisha Yapa, "Healthcare quality and the health system: examining impact and implementation of HIV care interventions in rural South Africa", primary supervisors: Associate Professor Kathy Petoumenos from our Biostatistics and Databases Program and Professor Till Bärnighausen from Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg
The Kirby Institute is proud to attract such talented higher degree research students, and we congratulate our most recent graduates.
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L–R: Dr Xin (Jessie) Chen, Dr Rosemary Aogo, Professor Anthony Kelleher (Director of the Kirby Institute), and Dr Stella Stolk (nee Nalukwago)