Australia’s trusted immunisation experts
11 September 2025 | NewsThere’s a new vaccine for pneumococcal disease in Australia. Here’s what to knowRead the full article
Alexandra Hendry joined NCIRS in October 2015 as a Research Officer with the Coverage, Evaluation and Surveillance team. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) and her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Sydney and worked as a Postdoctoral Scientist at the University of Auckland for a number of years before moving into public health and completing a Graduate Diploma of International Public Health at the University of Sydney. Before joining NCIRS Alexandra worked in a number of public health research positions and has substantial experience in data analysis and using routinely collected data for epidemiological research and evaluation.
Brynley Hull is an epidemiologist and data analyst, working in public health research. He is a science graduate of the University of NSW and completed a Master of Public Health at the University of Sydney. After gaining experience in occupational health epidemiology, he is now the principal analyst for NCIRS of data from the Australian Immunisation Register. His main interests and expertise are the manipulation and analysis of public health data, immunisation research and spatial epidemiology.
Kerry-Ann O’Grady is an applied epidemiologist with particular interests in acute respiratory illnesses in children and the pathways to chronic lung diseases; maternal vaccination; vaccine preventable diseases; and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. She has had a diverse career in clinical, government and academic settings across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Stephen Lambert is a public health physician with an interest in the public health surveillance and management of communicable diseases. Stephen's research interests include using publicly available data to assess vaccine program impact and quantify the effectiveness of new and existing vaccines.
Kirsten Williamson is a public health physician with an interest in vaccine preventable diseases and health equity. She is a science and medical graduate of the University of Wollongong and holds a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from James Cook University. She has previously worked at Hunter New England Population Health, where she completed the Australian National University Master of Applied Epidemiology program. Kirsten has experience in emergency medicine and is part of the Field Epidemiology in Action consortium, as a mentor and advisor for the Field Epidemiology Training Program of Papua New Guinea.
Joanne Jackson joined NCIRS in March 2021. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Molecular Virology from the University of New South Wales. Joanne has experience working as an epidemiologist at a large pharmaceutical company in London and has worked in various research roles in Australia. Joanne's experience extends across the areas of clinical research, public health research and surveillance.
Nicole Sonneveld joined NCIRS in March 2021 as a research officer. She completed her medical degree with the Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2017. This included an elective in Tropical Medicine and International Health for which she travelled to Zambia. She has also worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Research Team at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, where she was involved in research into a novel lung function test. After relocating to Australia in 2017, she worked as a junior medical officer before commencing a Master in Clinical Epidemiology with the University of Sydney in 2020.
Annabeth Simpson holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Master of Public Health from the University of Melbourne. She has worked in several public health research and government roles, including at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Kirby Institute and the NSW Health Public Health Officer Training Program.
Sophia Tse joined NCIRS as a Research Officer in October 2024. She is a pharmacist with clinical experience in both community and hospital settings. She holds a Master of Public Health from UNSW and is currently pursuing further studies in biostatistics at the University of Sydney. Her research interests include infectious diseases surveillance and modelling.
Fariha Binte Hossain is the Data Asset Manager, Surveillance at NCIRS. She is currently completing her PhD at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney, focusing on pneumococcal disease and vaccination among older adults in Australia. Her research involves comprehensive analyses using large-scale health datasets to explore vaccination patterns, respiratory infection trends and associated healthcare outcomes. Fariha holds an Master of Science in Global Health from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden and a Master of Public Health from North South University, Bangladesh. She also completed her medical degree at Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh. At NCIRS, Fariha’s role involves managing and securing health data assets, facilitating their effective use for research and policy development.
Han Wang is a statistician. She obtained a masters degree in statistics from the University of Sydney, after a primary mathematics degree from Peking University. Her research work involves study design, mathematical modelling and data analysis. She is interested in robust estimation for mixed models, longitudinal analysis, matched case-control studies, multivariate analysis and time series.
Kushani Marshall is a Public Health Physician undertaking further training as a field epidemiologist within the Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) training program at the Australian National University. She holds a conjoint academic appointment as Adjunct Clinical Senior Lecturer at Notre Dame. Her interests include health systems strengthening, service delivery and health financing. She holds a Master of Health and International Development and is an Associate Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators. Kushani has clinical experience in Addiction Medicine and has previously worked as the Public Health Medical Registrar at the Communicable Disease Control Branch in the South Australian Department for Health and Ageing, at the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia and at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health in Canberra. Kushani has also worked as a field epidemiologist within the Emerging Diseases Surveillance and Response team at the World Health Organization in Cambodia and as a consultant to WHO Cambodia strengthening food safety and foodborne disease outbreak response systems. Most recently she worked as the Medical Administration Registrar at Westmead Hospital in the areas of clinical governance, patient safety, health service quality and patient flow.
Eva Molnar joined NCIRS in March 2022 as a a Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) scholar. Eva holds a master’s degree in Social and Biological Anthropology from the Albert-Ludwig-University in Freiburg, Germany. She has worked for the Northern Land Council in Darwin as the regional anthropologist for the West Arnhem Land and Kakadu areas for almost 10 years doing land tenure and social research and consultations with Traditional Aboriginal Owners under the requirements of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, Northern Territory 1976. More recently, she has worked for the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre as a research officer. Eva has a strong interest in public health research and is keen to build skills as a field epidemiologist.
Jinadari is a Public Health Specialist and postdoctoral trainee working in public health research. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka and has completed a master’s degree and a medical degree in Community Medicine at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her main interests and expertise are in the manipulation and analysis of public health data, immunisation research and spatial epidemiology.
Rachel is a Master of Applied Epidemiology scholar at NCIRS. She commenced her training in 2024. She has extensive experience in communicable disease surveillance, having worked in public health units in regional and metropolitan New South Wales as well as in communicable disease control in South Australia. She completed an internship at the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she was involved in activities supporting progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals in the European Region, focusing on communicable diseases. Rachel has extensive experience as a paediatric registered nurse as well as experience in the corporate and non-government sectors, having worked for PwC Australia and as an intern at the Clinton Foundation in New York City. She holds a Master of Public Health/Master of International Public Health from UNSW Sydney and a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Technology Sydney.
Paul Young joined NCIRS in March 2023 as a Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE) scholar. Prior to the MAE he worked in a variety of roles for SA Health’s COVID-19 response. He has experience in both public health and environmental health research.
