The Kids Researchers
- A/Prof Freya Shearer (The University of Melbourne & The Kids Research Institute Australia)
- Prof Nick Golding (The Kids Research Institute Australia & The University of Western Australia)
- Dr Gerry Ryan (The Kids Research Institute Australia and The University of Melbourne)
- Dr Kate Senior (The Kids Research Institute Australia & The University Melbourne)
- Dr Saras Windecker (The Kids Research Institute Australia)
Partners
- Infectious Disease Dynamics Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Infectious Disease Ecology and Modelling Team, Infectious, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Western Australia, Australia
- Defence Science and Technology Group, Department of Defence, Australia
- Department of Econometrics & Business Statistics, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
- Infectious Disease Dynamics and Interventions Group, School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Modelling, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Infectious diseases modelling and Epidemiology Group, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia
- Adelaide Data Science Centre, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Project description
The ACEFA NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence aims to support the timely, effective response to epidemic diseases in Australia through real-time data analytics, modelling, and forecasting. Our work builds on a national seasonal influenza forecasting program (2014–19) and COVID-19 situational assessment consortium (2020–23).
Our vision is to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with epidemic diseases in Australia, the Asia-Pacific and globally. We will achieve this goal by developing the workforce, advanced analytic methods, and translational research initiatives – including Australia’s first-ever epidemic Forecasting and Scenario Modelling Hubs – to embed robust and timely epidemic analysis into public health decision-making. Centre activities will enable the development of more tailored, adaptive, and situation-specific policy responses for major established and emerging infectious disease threats, protecting lives and livelihoods.
Researchers at The Kids lead the Centre’s Community of Practice (CoP) and Hub Infrastructure Team (HIT) to deliver resources and guidelines, which will be highly relevant to both scientific and policy audiences and will support the other two core initiatives; the “Forecasting Hub” and “Scenario Modelling Hub” Collectively, the Centre-led initiatives will provide a formal network for growing a nationally distributed workforce capable of developing, applying, and driving innovation in policy-relevant epidemic analytics. A goal of the HIT is to develop public dashboards and interpretation, supporting public engagement with public health response measures.
You can visit the ACEFA website to learn more.
External collaborators
- Prof James McCaw (University of Melbourne)
- Dr Alexandra Hogan (University of New South Wales)
- Prof James Wood (University of New South Wales)
- Prof Emma McBryde (James Cook University)
- Prof Kathryn Glass (Australian National University)
- Dr David Price (University of Melbourne)
- Prof Rob Hyndman (Monash University)
- Dr Andrew Black (University of Adelaide)
- Dr Peter Dawson (Department of Defence)
- Prof Michael Plank (University of Canterbury)
Funders
- NHMRC