Dr Mohamed Hammoud

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Dr Mohamed Hammoud

Research Fellow

COVID-19

HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program

mhammoud@kirby.unsw.edu.au

+61 (02) 8263 8982

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Bio:

Mohamed is a Research Fellow at the Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney. He currently focuses on several clinical and behavioural COVID-19 projects, including: An investigating serological surveillance for COVID-19 in healthcare workers; a study of conserved and non-conserved immune responses in people with COVID-19 infection; and population-level surveillance investigating the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities in Australia.

Mohamed completed his PhD at the Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, investigating epidemiological perspectives to identify underlying factors that exacerbate HIV, STI and harms associated with drug use, and sociobehavioural perspectives to understand the context in which risk occur. His research has been used to inform a national policy change to the Australasian pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) Guidelines, the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’, the Therapeutic Goods Act Interim Decision on Amyl Nitrite, illicit drug use and public health harm reduction campaigns. His work has been cited in the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2019 HIV update, UNODC HIV Prevention Technical Report, and, and WHO PrEP monitoring implementation tool. Prior to beginning his PhD research, Mohamed completed his honours degree in Cognitive Psychology at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour, and Development. His honours thesis was a true experiment-design that determined how priming effects influence initial stages of the process of visual word recognition and demonstrated episodic and semantic memory systems operate as two distinct memory structures.

Drawing on his software engineering experience, Mohamed pioneered the design and development of a research-based system by modernising outmoded research methodologies to develop a world-first automatic cohort data collection system known as FAME. Currently used by national and international researchers in clinical and behavioural research studies, FAME automatically maintains data collection, participant communication, data cleaning, and tracks changes in individual behaviours overtime.

Broad Research Areas:

Sexuality and sexual identity; Mental health.Transmission and prevention of HIV other sexually transmissible infections; Gay men's health; Sexual behaviour. Drug use and misuse. Subcultural affiliation.

Qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy
UNSW Sydney, Faculty of Medicine, Kirby Institute for infection and immunity in society.
Thesis title: Emerging practices and the potential to change HIV epidemiological trends: HIV pre-exposure prophilaxis (PrEP) as a harm reduction strategy among gay and bisexual men who engage in chemsex.

Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
Western Sydney University. MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development.
Thesis title: Can episodic memory influence initial stage of visual word recognition.

Bachelor of Information Technology (Software Engineering)
Western Sydney University.

Epidemiology & Statistics for Public Health
UNSW Sydney

Introduction to Biostatistics
The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney

Peer Mentoring Program
UNSW Sydney

NIDA Presenting with Confidence
NIDA Corporate

NVIVO Certified Advance User
QSR International

Mental Health First Aid
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, University of Melbourne

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Certificate
Lifeline Australia

Grants:

To date, Mohamed has attracted over $2,727,000.00 in research funds. Notable grants below:

NHMRC Partnership Project
Implementing population-specific psychosocial interventions to optimise treatment, care and support among men who have sex with men who use methamphetamine

NSW Health BRISE
Impact of COVID-19 on HIV, STI, and mental health among gay and bisexual men in Australia.

Gilead Sciences Australia: Fellowship Research Grant
Non-uptake of PrEP among PrEP-eligible men in the Flux Study

NSW Health: Prevention Research Support Program
Behavioural Prevention of Infectious Diseases

Department of Health: Drug and Alcohol Program
A pilot study for an online cohort of drug use, mental and physical health among lesbian, bisexual and queer women.

Kirby Institute Emerging Investigators Grant
Measuring event-level chemsex and their associated harms among Australian gay and bisexual: A pilot study

Postdoctoral Research Grant
HIV prevention among gay and bisexual men who engage in chemsex.

Awards:

2020 Kirby Institute Postgraduate Student Prize
Most outstanding first author paper by a Kirby Institute student in a peer-reviewed journal

Full conference scholarship
International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections, Dublin, Ireland

Earlier Career Scientific Researcher Award - Stream C
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM)

Full scholarship to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference, Melbourne, Australia
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM)

Deans Merit Award for outstanding grades in 2011 and 2012
Western Sydney University

Supervision:

PHD

Research

Research activities:

Society Memberships & Professional Activities
ACON Human Research Ethics Review Committee

Teaching & Supervision

I am available to supervise:

Yes

Events

Oct 27

Dr Behzad Hajarizadeh – Hepatitis C treatment-as-prevention in Australian prisons: the SToP-C study

Oct 20

Dr Louise Causer – COVID-19 and healthcare workers in NSW

Oct 13

Distinguished Professor Michael Gillings – Integrons and antibiotic resistance: New ways of seeing mobile elements

Publications

Journal articles

Clackett S; Seed CR; Prestage G; Hammoud MA; Hoad V; Saxton P; Haire B; Holt M; Jin F; Bourne A; Maher L; Kaldor J, 2020, 'Attitudes and willingness to donate blood among gay and bisexual men in Australia', Transfusion, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/trf.15768

Hammoud MA; Jin F; Maher L; Bourne A; Haire B; Saxton P; Vaccher S; Lea T; Degenhardt L; Prestage G, 2020, 'Biomedical HIV Protection Among Gay and Bisexual Men Who Use Crystal Methamphetamine', AIDS and Behavior, vol. 24, pp. 1400 - 1413, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-019-02739-7

Keen P; Hammoud MA; Bourne A; Bavinton B; Holt M; Vaccher S; Haire B; Saxton P; Jin F; Maher L; Grulich AE; Prestage G, 2020, 'Use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) associated with lower HIV anxiety among gay and bisexual men in Australia who are at high risk of HIV infection', JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, vol. 83, pp. 119 - 125, http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/qai.0000000000002232

Philpot S; Prestage G; Holt M; Haire B; Maher L; Hammoud M; Bourne A, 2020, 'Gay and Bisexual Men’s Perceptions of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in a Context of High Accessibility: An Australian Qualitative Study', AIDS and Behavior, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02796-3

Vaccher SJ; Hammoud MA; Bourne A; Lea T; Haire BG; Holt M; Saxton P; Mackie B; Badge J; Jin F; Maher L; Prestage G, 2020, 'Prevalence, frequency, and motivations for alkyl nitrite use among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Australia', International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 76, pp. 102659 - 102659, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.102659

Lea T; Hammoud M; Bourne A; Maher L; Jin F; Haire B; Bath N; Grierson J; Prestage G, 2019, 'Attitudes and Perceived Social Norms toward Drug Use among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia', Substance Use and Misuse, vol. 54, pp. 944 - 954, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2018.1552302

Prestage G; Maher L; Grulich A; Bourne A; Hammoud M; Vaccher S; Bavinton B; Holt M; Jin F, 2019, 'Brief Report: Changes in Behavior after PrEP Initiation among Australian Gay and Bisexual Men', Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, vol. 81, pp. 52 - 56, http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000001976

Hammoud MA; Vaccher S; Jin F; Bourne A; Maher L; Holt M; Bavinton BR; Haire B; Degenhardt L; Grulich A; Prestage GP, 2019, 'HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake among gay and bisexual men in Australia and factors associated with the non-use of PrEP among eligible men', JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, vol. 81, pp. 1 - 1, http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/qai.0000000000002047

Grulich AE; Guy R; Amin J; Jin F; Selvey C; Holden J; Schmidt HMA; Zablotska I; Price K; Whittaker B; Chant K; Cooper C; McGill S; Telfer B; Yeung B; Levitt G; Ogilvie EE; Dharan NJ; Hammoud MA; Vaccher S; Watchirs-Smith L; McNulty A; Smith DJ; Allen DM; Baker D; Bloch M; Bopage RI; Brown K; Carr A; Carmody CJ; Collins KL; Finlayson R; Foster R; Jackson EY; Lewis DA; Lusk J; O'Connor CC; Ryder N; Vlahakis E; Read P; Cooper DA; Smith D; Ooi C; Martin S; Soo TM; Templeton D; Townson D; Forssman B; Doong N; Han Thai G; Anderson B; MacLeod H; Parkhill N, 2018, 'Population-level effectiveness of rapid, targeted, high-coverage roll-out of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in men who have sex with men: the EPIC-NSW prospective cohort study', The Lancet HIV, vol. 5, pp. e629 - e637, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3018(18)30215-7

Jin F; Hammoud MA; Maher L; Degenhardt L; Bourne A; Lea T; Vaccher S; Grierson J; Haire BG; Prestage G, 2018, 'Age related prevalence and age related incidence of illicit drug use in a cohort of Australian gay and bisexual men: Results form the FLUX study', Drug and Alcohol Dependence, vol. 188, pp. 175 - 179, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.04.009

Bui H; Zablotska-Manos I; Hammoud M; Jin F; Lea T; Bourne A; Iversen J; Bath N; Grierson J; Degenhardt L; Prestage G; Maher L, 2018, 'Prevalence and correlates of recent injecting drug use among gay and bisexual men in Australia: Results from the FLUX study', International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 55, pp. 222 - 230, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.01.018

Prestage G; Hammoud M; Jin F; Degenhardt L; Bourne A; Maher L, 2018, 'Mental health, drug use and sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual men', International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 55, pp. 169 - 179, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.01.020

Hammoud MA; Vaccher S; Jin F; Bourne A; Haire BG; Maher L; Lea T; Prestage G, 2018, 'The new MTV generation: Using methamphetamine, Truvada and Viagra to enhance sex and stay safe.', International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 55, pp. 197 - 204, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2018.02.021

Zablotska IB; Selvey C; Guy R; Price K; Holden J; Schmidt HM; McNulty A; Smith D; Jin F; Amin J; Cooper DA; Grulich AE, 2018, 'Erratum: Correction: expanded HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation in communities in new South Wales, Australia (EPIC-NSW): design of an open label, single arm implementation trial (BMC public health (2018) 18 1 (210))', BMC public health, vol. 18, pp. 297, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5173-7

Zablotska IB; Selvey C; Guy R; Price K; Holden J; Schmidt HM; McNulty A; Smith D; Jin F; Amin J; Cooper DA; Grulich AE; Parkhill N; Chant K; Cooper C; Crooks L; Allen D; Baker D; Bloch M; Bopage R; Brown K; Carr A; Carmody C; Collins K; Finlayson R; Foster R; Jackson E; Lewis D; Lusk J; O'Connor C; Ryder N; Vlahakis E; Read P; Yeung B; Levitt G; Ogilvie E; Vaccher S; Hammoud M; Watchirs-Smith L; Wabe N, 2018, 'Expanded HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation in communities in New South Wales, Australia (EPIC-NSW): Design of an open label, single arm implementation trial', BMC Public Health, vol. 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-5018-9

Hammoud MA; Bourne A; Maher L; Jin F; Haire B; Lea T; Degenhardt L; Grierson J; Prestage G, 2017, 'Intensive sex partying with gamma-hydroxybutyrate: factors associated with using gamma-hydroxybutyrate for chemsex among Australian gay and bisexual men – results from the Flux Study', Sexual Health, vol. 15, pp. 123 - 134, http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SH17146

Prestage G; Hammoud M; Lea T; Jin F; Maher L, 2017, 'Measuring drug use sensation-seeking among Australian gay and bisexual men', International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 49, pp. 73 - 79, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.07.027

Hammoud MA; Jin F; Lea T; Maher L; Grierson J; Prestage G, 2017, 'Off-Label Use of Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitor Erectile Dysfunction Medication to Enhance Sex Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia: Results From the FLUX Study', Journal of Sexual Medicine, vol. 14, pp. 774 - 784, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.04.670

Hammoud MA; Jin F; Degenhardt L; Lea T; Maher L; Grierson J; Mackie B; Pastorelli M; Batrouney C; Bath N; Bradley J; Prestage GP, 2017, 'Following Lives Undergoing Change (Flux) study: Implementation and baseline prevalence of drug use in an online cohort study of gay and bisexual men in Australia', International Journal of Drug Policy, vol. 41, pp. 41 - 50, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.11.012

Philpot SP; Ellard J; Duncan D; Dowsett GW; Bavinton BR; Down I; Keen P; Hammoud MA; Prestage G, 2016, 'Gay and bisexual men’s interest in marriage: an Australian perspective', Culture, Health and Sexuality, vol. 18, pp. 1347 - 1362, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2016.1184314

Prestage G; Brown G; De Wit J; Bavinton B; Fairley C; Maycock B; Batrouney C; Keen P; Down I; Hammoud M; Zablotska I, 2015, 'Understanding Gay Community Subcultures: Implications for HIV Prevention', AIDS and Behavior, vol. 19, pp. 2224 - 2233, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1027-9

Conference Papers

Hammoud M; Grulich A; Maher L; Holt M; Degenhardt L; Jin F; Murphy D; Bavinton B; Lea T; Haire B; Bourne A; Saxton P; Vaccher S; Ellard J; Mackie B; Batrouney C; Bath N; Prestage G, 2020, 'Impact of physical distancing due to COVID-19 on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use and sexual behaviour among gay and bisexual men in Australia: Implications for trends in HIV and other sexually transmissible infections', in JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL AIDS SOCIETY, JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD, Online, pp. 175 - 175, presented at AIDS 2020: Virtual, Online, 06 July 2020, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000551988900336&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1

Saxton P; Hammoud M; Andrews S; Newcombe D; Walton A; Stewart S; Te Akau R; Fisher M; Leafe K; Greenwood C; Green J; Prestage G, 2019, '"FLUX NZ": AN ONLINE NATIONAL COHORT INVESTIGATING HIV, STI AND DRUG-RELATED PRACTICES AMONG NEW ZEALAND GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN', in SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS, BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, pp. A251 - A251, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2019-sti.631

Prestage G; Hammoud M; Maher L; Lea T; Jin F, 2017, 'SELLING DRUGS AND SEX AMONG AUSTRALIAN GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN', in JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, WILEY, pp. E300 - E300, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000424205700338&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1

Conference Presentations

Keen P; Lee E; Grulich A; Bavinton B; Stoove M; Guy R; Duck T; Prestage G; Holt M, 2019, 'Sustained low prevalence of undiagnosed HIV among gay and bisexual men in Sydney, NSW coincident with increased testing and PrEP use: results from repeated bio-behavioural studies, 2014-18', Perth, presented at 2019 Joint Australasian Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Conference, Perth, 16 September 2019 - 19 September 2019, https://ashm.eventsair.com/QuickEventWebsitePortal/joint-sh-and-hivaids-conferences-2019/online-program/Agenda/AgendaItemDetail?id=572bb12f-5619-46b5-a992-6f09c171075a

Hammoud M; Jin F; Lea T; Prestage GP, 2017, 'GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ALTERNATE WAYS OF OBTAINING ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION MEDICATION AND THEIR REASONS FOR USE', in JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, WILEY, Vol. 14, pp. E265 - E265, http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000424205700218&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=891bb5ab6ba270e68a29b250adbe88d1

Conference Abstracts

Reports

Chan C; Bavinton B; Hammoud M; Keen P; Philpot S; Holt M; Grulich A; Power C; Prestage G, 2020, The INTO? Study: Report of Results, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/5f04f089b1067, http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/unsworks_70148

Sutherland R; Baillie G; Memedovic S; Hammoud M; Barratt M; Bruno R; Dietze P; Ezard N; Salom C; Degenhardt L; Hughes C; Peacock A, 2020, Key findings from the 'Australians’ Drug Use: Adapting to Pandemic Threats (ADAPT)' Study, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, http://dx.doi.org/10.26190/5efbef7c8d821

Theses / Dissertations

Hammoud M, 2020, Emerging practices and the potential to change HIV epidemiological trends: Pre-exposure prophylaxis as biomedical HIV prevention among gay and bisexual men who participate in chemsex, http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/64998

Hammoud M, 2013, Can episodic memory influence the initial stage of visual word recognition?

Other

Hammoud M, 2019, Emerging practices and the potential to change HIV epidemiological trends: Pre-exposure prophylaxis as biomedical HIV prevention among gay and bisexual men who participate in chemsex, https://www.unsworks.unsw.edu.au/permalink/f/5gm2j3/unsworks_63429