The health of Australia’s Indigenous population remains a major issue across the country.
Indigenous Australians experience a disproportionate health burden from infectious diseases, for example, chronic hepatitis B infection (HBV). Rates of liver cancer are amongst the highest reported, and in spite of preventive vaccination programs many young Indigenous people are still being infected.
With our Institute-wide mission to prevent, treat and cure infectious diseases, the health of Australia’s first people is of critical importance to the team at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. We aim to play an increasingly meaningful role in reducing the unacceptable burden of infectious disease on Indigenous Australians.
We are enthusiastic to train the next generation of exceptional Indigenous researchers specialising in Infection and Immunity. We are working with Indigenous communities across Australia to develop research partnerships that lead to real improvements in health.
Principles
The Doherty Institute is committed to implement the following best practices identified during the inaugural Indigenous Health at the Doherty Institute Forum on August 30th, 2017:
We will always be respectful of the history and context of the communities with whom we work.
We will not only build, but strive to maintain relationships with communities and leaders in health. As it is ineffective for one researcher to enter a community alone and start from scratch, we will work with existing relationships that the University of Melbourne already has such as East Arnhem Land, Cape York, Goulburn Valley. We will continue to build on existing links with northern Australia through the Menzies School of Health Research and Miwatj Health.
We will undertake research 'with' rather than 'on' communities, seeking to conduct community-driven research that is engaged with investigator skills and knowledge
We will strive to ensure our research translates into clear and immediate benefits not just a contribution to the ‘body of knowledge’. We will listen to the health needs of communities to ensure we're undertaking research that counts.
Research
In a study conducted in the top end of the Northern Territory – the CHARM study – researchers at the Doherty Institute in collaboration with clinical researchers at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin found that the dominant HBV genotype is a rare genotype (HBV/C4) unique to Australia’s Indigenous population, which probably entered Australia with the first Australians. The ongoing aim of their research is to define the clinical and natural history of chronic HBV infection with this unique genotype. Following on from this initial study, the team have since developed new collaborations with clinicians from James Cook University and the University of Queensland, and have ethics approval to examine HBV infection in Indigenous communities in Northern Queensland and the Torres Strait Islands.
In addition, the Doherty Institute’s epidemiology unit collaborates with researchers, clinicians and policy makers across Australia in addressing the burden of hepatitis B in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. They have been involved in reviewing the epidemiology of hepatitis B, record linkage studies to improve completeness of Indigenous status in notifiable disease surveillance data, and have contributed to policy development regarding vaccination and approaches to blood-borne viruses in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria and nationally.
Another research group from the Doherty Institute is exploring the Indigenous population’s susceptibility to influenza, specifically, whether differences in T cell immunity can explain this.
PhD Scholarship
The Institute welcomes enquiries for a prestigious new PhD scholarship for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander candidate wishing to pursue study related to infection and immunity. The candidate will receive mentoring and leadership development support from the Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Development at the University of Melbourne, they will be connected to and mentored by some of the most respected leaders in Indigenous health with supportive career paths available.
Further information will be available shortly. Please contact Belinda Collins for further information.