Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Nicolás Borchers Arriagada is a Sohn Hearts and Minds Research Fellow and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at UTAS. He is multidisciplinary data scientist and industrial engineer, specialised in environmental and medical sciences. He is a post doctoral research fellow with the Centre for Safe Air. His work intersects modelling, public health, health economics, bushfire management, and more broadly risks of climate related and extreme weather events. During his PhD he assessed the health burden of bushfire smoke in Australia and is currently working on novel methods to improve and refine population exposure estimates to wood heater smoke and landscape fire smoke PM2.5, assess the health burden of different climate related extreme events, and on using health economic and visualisation techniques to better communicate policy-related research.

Dr. Gongbo Chen is a research fellow at Monash University’s Climate, Air Quality Research Unit. During his PhD (2015–2018), he developed a satellite-based machine learning method for air quality prediction, applying it in epidemiological studies on air pollution’s health effects. From 2019 to 2023, he worked at Wuhan University and Sun Yat-sen University for four years. In 2023, he returned to Monash to continue his research. Dr. Chen was awarded the Monash Early Career Postdoctoral Fellowship, NHMRC Centre for Safe Air Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and subsequently ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA). Dr Chen's research achievements significantly surpass the typical expectations for ECRs. Since 2017, He has published > 200 peer-reviewed papers, with 60 for which he was first/corresponding-author and 94% published in JCR Q1 journals, such as Lancet Planetary Health, JAMA Pediatrics, and Nature Communications. He is ranked among top 2% scientists worldwide 2022 (Stanford/Elsevier), with 7,158 citations and an h-index of 47 (Google Scholar). Dr. Chen has secured 6 grants as CIA with nearly $1 million in funding and won the Monash FMNHS Dean's Award for Excellence in Research - Team Award and Vice Chancellor Excellence Award for Research Team of the Year 2024.

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.