Good news

Sotiris Vardoulakis has been appointed as Visiting Professor at the University of Indonesia. 

Keynote and invited presentations

Robyn Lucas presented on Sun exposure, vitamin D, and multiple sclerosis at the ACT MS Symposium.

Jo Lane facilitated and presented on ELEVIDA program (for MS-related fatigue) and the ACT MS Cohort at the ACT MS Symposium.

Jo Lane presented on current MS Studies at the Our Health and Our Hands (OHIOH) Symposium 2020.

Sotiris Vardoulakis participated in the panel discussion on “The Stubble burning – the issue and its mitigation” organised by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 20 November 2020.

RSPH workshops and seminars

The Climate Change Institute and the ECH research group co-organised the 2^nd cross-college ANU workshop on Health and Climate Change on 4^th November. 

Outreach and engagement

Robyn Lucas chaired a meeting of public health physicians and other public health experts involved in the Pacific Islands, on COVID-19 vaccines and strategies for vaccine roll out.

Media releases/interest

Sotiris Vardoulakis gave media interviews to ABC TV News and Canberra Weekly on the Bushfire Royal Commission report.

Other news

Jo Lane selected to be a STEM Coach for the Curious Minds mentoring program

https://www.asi.edu.au/programs/curious-minds/

Papers accepted/published:

Lingham G, Mackey D, Zhu K, Lucas RM, Black LJ, Oddy W, Holt P, Walsh J, Sanfilippo PG, Ping-Delfos WCS, Yazar S. Time spent outdoors through childhood and adolescence – assessed by 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration – and risk of myopia at 20 years. Acta Ophthalmologica (accepted 10 Nov 2020)

Lal, A., Patel, M., Hunter, A. and Phillips, C., 2020. Towards resilient health systems for increasing climate extremes: insights from the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. International Journal of Wildland Fire. https://doi.org/10.1071/WF20083

Vardoulakis S., Giagloglou E., Steinle S., Davis A., Sleeuwenhoek A., Galea K.S., Dixon K., Crawford J.O., 2020. Indoor Exposure to Selected Chemical Air Pollutants: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (in press)

Steinle S., Johnston H.J., Loh M., Mueller W., Vardoulakis S., Tantrakarnapa K., Cherrie J.W., 2020. In utero exposure to particulate air pollution during pregnancy: Impact on birth weight and health through the life course. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (in press)

Dawel, A., Shou, Y., Smithson, M., Cherbuin, N., Banfield, M., Calear, A., Farrer, L., Gray, D., Gulliver, A., Housen, T., McCallum, S., Morse, A., Murray, K., Newman, E., Rodney Harris, R., & Batterham, P. The effect of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing in a representative sample of Australian adults. Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Progress on research projects

The PFAS Health Study – Fieldwork in the comparison areas is ongoing, the cut-off date for blood tests and survey completions is 18 December 2020. Analysis is underway on the linked perinatal data for NSW, Qld and NT. The national data is currently being linked by AIHW.

Research proposal submitted to ACT Government (Health) Research and Innovation Fund: Assessing interventions for improving classroom air quality, energy efficiency and respiratory health in primary schools in ACT (Sotiris Vardoulakis)

Climate Change and Health Policy and 5-Year Action plan for the Marshall Islands – Final project deliverable submitted (Sotiris Vardoulakis, Amelia Joshy, Aparna Lal, Robyn Lucas)

https://rsph.anu.edu.au/research/projects/developing-national-climate-change-and-health-policy-and-action-plan-marshall

Cross-college bushfire smoke children's book project – Interviews with schools completed; literature review ongoing. https://rsph.anu.edu.au/phxchange/ -science/bushfire-smoke-childrens-book

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

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

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

Bushfire Response – Air Quality Monitoring Programme: pilot monitoring completed in two households (Sotiris Vardoulakis, Ben Keaney)

https://rsph.anu.edu.au/research/projects/air-quality-monitoring-research-facility-bushfire-emergency-response

Contribution to the MC2020 study led by ANUMS:

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

Sun Exposure and Vitamin D Supplementation (SEDS) Study – Analysis and drafting of manuscripts for this study is ongoing.

https://rsph.anu.edu.au/research/projects/sun-exposure-and-vitamin-d-supplementation-study

Bushfire Health Study – Analysis and drafting of manuscripts for this project is ongoing.

https://rsph.anu.edu.au/research/projects/bushfire-health-survey

MRFF - Building community resilience to promote mental health in bushfire-affected communities – Postdoctoral and RA team members have been employed. https://psychology.anu.edu.au/research/projects/building-community-resilience-promote-mental-health-bushfire-affected-communities