Professor Cameron Simmons appointed head of Institute of Vector-Borne Disease

Professor Cameron Simmons has been appointed Director of the Institute of Vector-Borne Disease (IVBD).

An NHMRC Senior Fellow and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science, Professor Simmons is an international leader in clinical and laboratory research in infectious diseases, and particularly arboviral diseases like dengue. He has spent much of his academic career with the University of Oxford including 13 years in Vietnam at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases.  

Professor Simmons is an eminent scholar in his field having published 200 research papers and has consultancy roles at the WHO and to vaccine and drug development companies.

The IVBD brings together scientists and experts across multiple disciplines to address the global burden of mosquito-borne viral diseases, with a focus on those transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.  

The global burden of dengue, plus explosive outbreaks of relatively new viruses such as Zika, underscores the need for innovative, long-term public health solutions. A solution has been pioneered by the IVBD through their global not-for-profit initiative, the World Mosquito Program, where Professor Simmons is Director of Impact Assessment.

As the WMP expands its deployment to ten countries with further sites expected this year, the appointment allows current IVBD Director and Program Director, WMP, Professor Scott O’Neill, to focus on scaling-up its deployment internationally.

Source: Monash University
https://www.monash.edu/medicine/news/latest/2018-articles/professor-cameron-simmons-appointed-head-of-institute-of-vector-borne-disease