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Catherine Hughes AM

Honorary Team Member

Catherine Hughes

Honorary Team Member

Catherine Hughes AM is an accomplished consumer researcher and the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Immunisation Foundation of Australia (IFA). Catherine’s profound commitment to public health advocacy began following the devastating loss of her four-week-old son, Riley, to whooping cough in 2015. This personal tragedy inspired her to launch the national Light for Riley campaign, which successfully advocated for the provision of free pertussis vaccines to pregnant women nationwide. Through the IFA, Catherine expands her work to promote immunisation access, awareness, and acceptance across all vaccine-preventable diseases, including new efforts focused on RSV awareness. She works closely with scientific communities, serving as an Honorary Community Co-Researcher at Kids Research Institute and a consumer investigator on multiple research projects. Her dedication has been widely recognised, including her appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2022, being named the 2016 WA Young Australian of the Year, and most recently, the 2025 Patients Australia Advocate of the Year.  

Published research

Vaccine hesitancy and uptake during pregnancy: investigating the role of emotional mental imagery

Vaccine hesitancy and suboptimal vaccine uptake pose significant threats to public health, but modifiable psychological factors underpinning them are under-investigated. We examined the prevalence of spontaneous emotional mental imagery relating to infectious diseases and perinatal vaccines and its unique associations with vaccine hesitancy and uptake behaviour.

Published research Immunisation Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Immune system Maternal health
Learn more about Vaccine hesitancy and uptake during pregnancy: investigating the role of emotional mental imagery

May 2026

Socio-economic inequality underpins inequity in influenza vaccination uptake between public and private secondary schools: an Australian population-based study

Socio-economic inequality and vaccination inequity have long been critical issues. However, no studies have explored the gap in influenza vaccination uptake between public and private schools. Importantly, the extent to which socio-economic inequality translates into vaccination uptake inequity has not been quantified.

Published research Immunisation Influenza Infectious Diseases Human Development and Community Wellbeing Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Child and adolescent health
Learn more about Socio-economic inequality underpins inequity in influenza vaccination uptake between public and private secondary schools: an Australian population-based study

December 2025