Global health

Our aim is to improve the health of people around the world through discovery of the basic mechanisms of disease and by finding and testing solutions to optimise health outcomes.

People in lower income countries suffer a high burden of health conditions, including diarrhoea, pneumonia, parasitic infections, anaemia, poor maternal child health, poor growth (stunting), and sub-optimal neurodevelopment.

Our research involves developing new cost-effective tools, treatments, diagnostics and health policies for the most challenging health problems facing people in low- and middle-income countries and to test solutions to these problems to help people in communities that need them most.

Some of our main disease priorities include:

• malaria
• tuberculosis
• HIV
• COVID-19
• maternal and child health
• anaemia
• parasites
• diarrhoea
• cancers

Our researchers working in global health span the spectrum of science, from advanced cutting-edge microbiological techniques through to large field randomised controlled trials.

We are conducting research that spans from molecular biology, immune response and systems biology to biomarker development, drug discovery and development to field studies, and from epidemiology, clinical trials to implementation science.

Our expertise includes diagnostic test development, clinical and epidemiological studies including large randomised controlled field trials and cohort studies, as well as policy development with organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO).

We work across a broad range of countries including Brazil, Ecuador, South Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and remote parts of Australia.

Our work is made possible thanks to the strong partnerships and collaborations we have with our colleagues in these countries. We also work with our local partners to provide training and build local capacity to meet research challenges.

We contribute to WHO policies by providing evidence and expert contributions to guideline processes, helping to set standards for health practices across the world.

For example, we have been designated the WHO Collaborating Centre for Anaemia Detection and Control and lead research and policy programs to reduce the prevalence of anaemia in low- and middle-income countries.