About Us

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Updated: 3, Dec 2025

Overview

The WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis (the Centre), Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) was designated on 1 June 2015 as one of only five Collaborating Centres for Viral Hepatitis globally. The Centre performs a broad range of activities supporting national and global control of viral hepatitis, including basic research and reference virology, surveillance, treatment and prevention initiatives, and training and regional capacity building. In addition, the Centre is active in public health policy development and assists the WHO in implementing the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis.

In conjunction with the designation as a WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Hepatitis B in 2010, the Centre assists the WHO and Western Pacific Regional Office for the WHO (WPRO) with advice and support for approaches to the prevention and management of viral hepatitis, and provides reference testing for samples collected as part of national serosurveys conducted across the Western Pacific Region. The Centre also enables VIDRL and the Doherty Institute to extend the scope and geographic reach of their research, training and regional capacity building activities related to viral hepatitis in collaboration with the WHO, other WHO Collaborating Centres and research partners to support the global agenda for viral hepatitis control.

As one of only five designated Collaborating Centres for Viral Hepatitis located around the world – including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US – the new Centre will be based within the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s (RMH) Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Doherty Institute and will work across a range of activities including surveillance, treatment and prevention initiatives. In addition, it will also develop policy and assist the WHO to implement its Global Health Sector Strategy on the virus.

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WHO designation will enable the Doherty Institute to integrate its existing viral hepatitis programs into the global research arena. Working in collaboration with the WHO and other member states, the program at the Doherty Institute will focus on disease pathogenesis; diagnostics; prevention and evaluation of patterns of disease; and treatment responses on a global scale.

This designation comes as viral hepatitis is increasingly recognised as a public health priority. Around 240 million people are estimated to be living with hepatitis B and 170 million with hepatitis C. In 2013, 1.4 million people worldwide died due to viral hepatitis, equal to the number of deaths caused by HIV. Ninety per cent of these lives are lost due to cirrhosis and liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis B and C. In Australia, viral hepatitis affects over 450,000 people and is the leading cause of liver cancer – the fastest increasing cause of cancer deaths nationally.

What we do

The WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, at the Doherty Institute, has been designated as one of only five Collaborating Centres for Viral Hepatitis globally.

We are one of five WHO designated Collaborating Centres for Viral Hepatitis around the world. The Centre has a primary role in conducting surveillance, treatment and prevention activities, as well as developing public health policy relating to viral hepatitis, and assisting the WHO to implement its Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis. The Centre also works together with the Doherty’s WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Hepatitis B (Western Pacific Region), which is responsible for laboratory, technical, research and training support to countries in the region, as well as serving as a resource on hepatitis B diagnostics and surveillance.

The Centre provides numerous diagnostic and specialised molecular tests for detection of various markers of infection for all forms of viral hepatitis (A-E), and has a strong research focus in investigating viral characteristics associated with drug resistance, vaccine escape, and adverse disease outcomes. In addition, research groups within the Centre have a particular focus on viral hepatitis and HIV co-infection, examining factors associated with disease progression and responses to antiviral treatment. The Centre’s epidemiology team have a diverse research agenda relating to the prevalence and burden of chronic viral hepatitis locally, nationally and globally, and help guide public health responses to reduce the impact of viral hepatitis.

The Centre’s multidisciplinary team of epidemiologists, scientists, clinicians and others working in the WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis at the Doherty Institute collectively support the work of the WHO and other partners in eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health concern in coming years. Through sustained efforts, effective partnerships, and innovative approaches we believe this goal is within our grasp.

In addition to surveillance, our staff at the Centre also engage in research, training and education activities. More detailed information about our centre activities can be found here.

Terms of Reference (2023-2027)

Under its designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, the Centre’s Terms of Reference (for 2023-2027) are:

1. To support WHO in strengthening epidemiological and laboratory capacity for implementing global and regional frameworks and strategies towards the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

2. To assist WHO in providing technical support, capacity building and implementation models for testing and treatment across the continuum of prevention, care and treatment for hepatitis, including the elimination of mother to child transmission of viral hepatitis.

Activities:

1. To assist WHO in generating and analyzing epidemiological and programmatic data to guide public health policy and practice related to viral hepatitis and related complications including liver cancer.

2. To strengthen viral hepatitis diagnostic capacity and increase access to quality diagnostics in resource constrained settings.

3. To support WHO in providing guidance and establishing service delivery models for screening, care and treatment of viral hepatitis.

4. Assist Member States as requested by them in conducting molecular analyses for viral hepatitis, including characterisation and classification of hepatitis viruses (A-E)

History and governance

History

VIDRL has a long history of providing support for WHO’s activities in communicable disease control. VIDRL was initially WHO designated in 1965 (the year hepatitis B was discovered) as a Collaborating Centre in Virus Reference and Research. Further WHO designations followed, including;

WHO Regional Measles Reference Laboratory
WHO Regional Poliovirus Reference Laboratory
WHO Collaborating Centre for Mycobacterium ulcerans
WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, and
WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Hepatitis B, designated in 2010

In recognition of VIDRL’s longstanding expertise in research and reference virology in viral hepatitis, and increasing profile in public health and epidemiological research in viral hepatitis, VIDRL was invited by WHO to apply for designation as a Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis. This process commenced as WHO’s focus on viral hepatitis as a public health priority increased following the World Health Assembly Resolution on Viral Hepatitis in 2010.

Following ongoing work by VIDRL and the WHO, and over several iterations, VIDRL at the Doherty was designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis in 2015, and redesignated in 2019.

Governance

The Doherty Institute has created a governance structure that supports integration and fosters collaboration, strong leadership and management, creating a unified organisation. The Centre is based in VIDRL, a unit of the Doherty Institute, which is a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The Centre reports directly through existing Doherty Institute governance structures as well as to the WHO.

In addition, the Centre is guided by an Advisory Group made up of representatives from affected communities, members of peak-community organisations, State and Federal Government , the research community and the health sector. Advisory group representatives have expertise in: Community engagement and advocacy, communicable disease surveillance, lived experience of viral hepatitis, clinical care of people living with viral hepatitis, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, data linkage/public health/social/epidemiological research, policy development, programmatic/policy responses to cancer, government policy response, education and workforce development, infectious disease modelling, and delivery of health support services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people who inject drugs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Advisory Group is guided by its own Terms of Reference (for 2016-2019), to:

Inform, advise and support the Centre at the Doherty Institute regarding the conduct of projects relating to viral hepatitis epidemiology;
Suggest approaches for translation and dissemination of findings to appropriate stakeholders, including those living with chronic viral hepatitis;
Provide guidance regarding how best to measure progress toward the objectives of Victorian, National and WHO Strategies for viral hepatitis; and
Provide recommendations around emerging priorities relating to viral hepatitis epidemiology, surveillance and research.