Daniella Figueroa-Downing
Postdoctoral Research Scientist - Honorary Team Member
PhD, MPH
daniella.figueroadowning@thekids.org.au
Daniella is Postdoctoral Research Scientist and Honorary Member of the Global Disease Modelling (GDM) team. She is an infectious disease epidemiologist specializing in mathematical modelling, vaccine impact evaluation, and health data systems. She is interested in how data and evidence are used to shape policy and programmatic decisions. Her current work focuses on the public health impact and cost-effectiveness of optimised deployment strategies for existing malaria products, setting the baseline for new products in the development pipeline, and better understanding the evidence needed to support future policy decisions.
She holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, and a Master of Public Health in Global Epidemiology from Emory University. Her doctoral research focused on the timing and impact of malaria vaccine dosing schedules for the RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M vaccines.
Previously, Daniella worked at Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, where she managed a vaccine impact research portfolio and coordinated multi-partner surveillance strategies spanning rotavirus, cholera, typhoid, pneumococcal, meningococcal, HPV, and measles vaccines and led efforts to strengthen health system and surveillance data use in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Earlier in her career, she worked as an epidemiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, managing a multi-site paediatric respiratory and diarrheal disease surveillance network.
Throughout her career, she has worked closely with Ministries of Health, national immunization programmes, and global health and development partners across Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Education and Qualifications
- 2026: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Epidemiology – University of Basel (Switzerland)
- 2015: Master of Public Health (MPH) in Global Health & Epidemiology – Emory University (USA)
- 2011: Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology – Middlebury College (USA)
Awards/Honours
- 2026: PhD awarded summa cum laude