Good news

Our abstract “Bushfire smoke – public health communication during the Black Summer and beyond” submitted to the Australian Public Health Conference 2020 has been selected as a finalist for the Advocacy & Leadership Award. (RSPH involvement: Sotiris Vardoulakis, Erin Walsh, Robyn Lucas, Tobias James)

New grants/funding

Aparna Lal, Darren Gray and Stuart Mason. Evaluation of a low cost, water saving device in Fiji ($39,825).

Other conference presentations

Airborne transmission of COVID-19 and other coronaviruses in indoor and outdoor environments: a systematic review. 32^nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (virtual), 24-27 August 2020. (RSPH presenter: Sotiris Vardoulakis and Daniela Espinoza Oyarce)

Exposure to ambient particulate matter during pregnancy: Associations with birth weight in Thailand. 32^nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (virtual), 24-27 August 2020. (RSPH involvement: Sotiris Vardoulakis)

Neighbourhood and trip-based greenspace in four European areas: Associations with physical activity. 32^nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (virtual), 24-27 August 2020. (RSPH involvement: Sotiris Vardoulakis)

Overview of the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Health Study: Exposure to and health effects of environmental PFAS contamination in Australian communities. 32^nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (virtual), 24-27 August 2020. (RSPH presenter: Kayla Smurthwaite on behalf of the PFAS Health Study team)

Health and social concerns about living in communities affected by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Australia: A qualitative study. 32^nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (virtual), 24-27 August 2020. (RSPH presenter: Kayla Smurthwaite on behalf of the PFAS Health Study team)

Gender and geographic bias in climate change-health research. 32^nd Annual Conference of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (virtual), 24-27 August 2020. (RSPH presenter: Aparna Lal on behalf of Adrian Lill, Emily Wilford)

Outreach and engagement

Robyn Lucas co-facilitated a webinar with the NZ College of Public Health Medicine on opening borders during the COVID-19 pandemic for Pacific Islands public health physicians, in her role as President of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.

Media releases/interest

Sotiris Vardoulakis gave an interview to the Canberra Times on COVID-19 testing: How long before a quick, reliable cheap test comes out?

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6863242/how-long-before-a-quick-reliable-and-cheap-test-comes-out/

Sotiris Vardoulakis commented on ABC Canberra Radio (3 August 2020) on calls by the Chief Scientist for national smoke monitoring.

Sotiris Vardoulakis gave an interview on indoor air quality and health on Ticker TV (19 August 2020)

Jo Lane published an article for Australian newspapers/print media titled: The importance of smiling behind the mask e.g.,

https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-importance-of-smiling-behind-the-mask-20200727-p55frw.html

Jo Lane gave an interview to the BBC World News on facemasks and communication:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=36&v=4yDK1_BLH-U&feature=emb_logo

Martyn Kirk gave interviews with ABC radio in the Dalby, Alice Springs, and Kiama Shellharbour regions to promote the PFAS Health Study (week of 10 August).

New staff

Dani Cribb has commenced work on the PFAS Health Study to help with registration of participants.

Papers accepted/published:

Vardoulakis S., Salmond J., Krafft T., Morawska L., 2020. Urban environmental health interventions towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Science of the Total Environment 748 (2020), 141530.

Progress on research projects

PFAS Health Study – Services Australia mailed invitations on our behalf to the first wave of randomly selected participants to the Cross-sectional Survey and Blood Serum Study in the comparison areas of Dalby, Alice Springs, and Kiama Shellharbour. The second wave of invitations is expected to be mailed out this week (24 August). Analysis of the survey and blood serum data for the exposed communities is underway. Preliminary analysis of the linked perinatal data collections has begun. The linkage of national data is currently underway at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Climate Change and Health Policy and 5-Year Action plan for the Marshall Islands – Report on stakeholder consultations and focus group discussions submitted to the funders. (Sotiris Vardoulakis)

Cross-college bushfire smoke children's book project – website launched and literature review ongoing. https://rsph.anu.edu.au/phxchange/ -science/bushfire-smoke-childrens-book

(RSPH involvement: Erin Walsh, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Ginny Sargent, and Liz Drummond)

PFAS Health Study – Analysis on the blood serum and survey data from the exposed communities is ongoing. The first wave of invitations to participate in the cross-sectional survey and blood serum study will be sent to the comparison communities in mid-August. The linked data from the perinatal data collections is being cleaned and preliminary analysis will begin soon. The linkage of national data is currently underway at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

COVID-19 airborne transmission systematic review – abstract screening completed, full-text screening and data extraction ongoing (Sotiris Vardoulakis and Daniela Espinoza). 

Contribution to the MC2020 study led by ANUMS launched here:

https://medicalschool.anu.edu.au/research/projects/mother-and-child-2020-mc2020

COVID-19 sewage monitoring programme is ongoing (Aparna Lal).