Life in the human herd is complex, and we are unavoidably inter-dependent when it comes to our health. Population health science looks at the things that cause ill-health in the first place.
Flu virus mutates so quickly that one year’s vaccine won’t work on the next year’s common strains. But rational design – a new way to create vaccines – might pave the way for more lasting solutions.
Lithium is present naturally in many water systems and was once considered an elixir. It has long been used to treat bipolar disorder, but researchers have also started exploring its role in dementia.
Epidemiologists study disease outbreaks in populations to determine who gets sick and why. In the wake of this year’s hurricanes, they are assessing impacts from mold, toxic leaks and other threats.
Study uses satellite data to add to growing evidence that nighttime light exposure raises risk of breast cancer, with the strongest link among young women.
While we must put in place effective measures to protect against the malicious use of personal data, not using the information collected about Australians comes at a cost.
Phrases like “knowledge production” conceal the fact that knowledge answers to something beyond itself and beyond us. To produce knowledge is to find out about something.
The power to overcoming Ebola was in public awareness by performing simple yet basic infection prevention and control measures like washing hands, isolation and reporting suspected cases.
Sometimes statistics and probability can produce unexpected or counter-intuitive results. If we’re hoping to use numbers to make good decisions, we should be wary of the traps.
Eric Delaporte, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
One year after the end of the West African Ebola epidemic, a study of survivors in Guinea shows what has been learned about the deadly virus, and what remains unknown.
Flu virus mutates so quickly that one year’s vaccine won’t work on the next year’s common strains. But a new way to create vaccines, called ‘rational design,’ might pave the way for more lasting solutions.
After almost four-and-a half decades and from modest beginnings, the Dunedin study has evolved into one of the most significant long-term tracking studies in the world.
Women are catching up to men in rates of alcohol consumption and this has important implications for how we think about our community response to harmful alcohol use.
A computer model suggests that while more cases of Zika can be expected in the continental U.S. outbreaks will probably be small and are not projected to spread.
Professor of Epidemiology, Population Interventions Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne