University of Melbourne

Shyamali Dharmage (MBBS, MSc, MD, PhD), trained in Clinical Medicine, Public Health & Epidemiology, leads the Allergy & Lung Health Unit at the University Of Melbourne. She is a world-recognised leader in Life Course Epidemiology of Allergies and Chronic Respiratory Diseases, and is ranked in the top 0.047% worldwide in the field of Obstructive Lung Diseases.

Jennifer Perret, is a physician-trained Respiratory and Sleep epidemiologist at the Allergy and Lung Health Unit (ALHU), Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne. Her post-doctoral work in air pollution-related lung function impairment and systemic inflammation was supported by the CRE-CAR (2015-2017). She now co-leads a research program that is implementing a validated risk-tool and smoking cessation aid into primary care that can triage patients aged 40-49 for spirometry testing to confirm the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Mentored by Prof Shyamali Dharmage, CRE-CSA CI and PI of the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS), she will also be studying the measurement of small airways disease, and the risk factors associated with the COPD-heart disease overlap. Her collaborations include investigators of other world-class population-based cohorts from Imperial College London and Harvard University U.S.

Annabelle (Belle) Workman completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne in 2008, majoring in Politics and Chinese. Belle worked for the National Health and Medical Research Council for five years in clinical practice guidelines and research translation before completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2019. Belle's research investigated the role of health co-benefits in the development of climate change mitigation policies. She developed case studies for Australia, the European Union, China and the United States of America, identifying barriers and opportunities to enhance the political traction of health in mitigation policy development. Belle completed a Research Fellowship at the University of Tasmania's Menzies Institute for Medical Research, evaluating the environmental health smartphone app, AirRater. She has worked with the University of Tasmania's sustainability team and most recently worked as a knowledge broker at the Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research (CAR). She returned to the University of Melbourne in October 2021 as a Research Fellow with Melbourne Climate Futures.

Rachel Tham is an environmental epidemiologist specialising in aeroallergens, air quality, ambient noise, and health impacts. She is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Centre for Safe Air. She is also a research fellow at the University of Melbourne based in the Department of Medicine and Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. Rachel’s research skills are complemented by her extensive experience as a clinical educator and academic in oral health and health service systems. She has worked extensively across universities, government, public health agencies, and the private sector in Australia and abroad. ORCiD: 0000-0001-9362-5189

Dr Nur Sabrina Idrose is an early career Research Fellow specialising in Environmental Epidemiology, at the Allergy and Lung Health Unit, University of Melbourne. She is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Centre for Safe Air. Idrose’s research focuses on the impact of aeroallergen exposures on allergic disease and cardio-respiratory health. Although she just completed her PhD in July 2023, Idrose already has >15 publications and is in the top 0.55% (from 32,571) of pollen experts globally. Since mid-2019, Idrose has been awarded >AUD410,000 in scholarships, grants, awards and fellowships. She is also a Steering Committee member of the Students and New Researchers’ Network and a Council Member of the Asia-Western Pacific Chapter of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology.