Executive Director, International Health and Epidemiology

A/Prof Priscilla Robinson PhD (Epidemiology)

PhD Epidemiology (Melbourne University), MPH (Monash University), MHSc (Public Health Practice) (La Trobe University)

A/Prof Robinson was appointed Executive Director, International Health and Epidemiology, GENI in November 2023. This followed her work as a Director for GENI since 2016 when she worked on ‘The management of chronic diseases during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the WHO Western Pacific and South East Asian regions’, the ‘Africa COVID-19 vaccine project’; and ‘Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Child Vaccinations in Africa: International Lessons for CPGs in Developing Countries’.

She has a PhD in Epidemiology and an international reputation in Epidemiology and Public Health, with considerable experience working in Australia, England, and several countries in Asia and Africa. Her experience in communicable disease surveillance and control and public health emergency management and recovery, especially in remote areas of Australia and developing countries spans several decades.

Her public health experience in the UK and the (Australian) Victorian Government, is complemented by her work in transitional countries, and many years of teaching public health and supporting research and higher degree students in tertiary education settings.

Her current work concerns the standardisation of international public health core competencies and, when capacity allows, the role of the arts in public health. She is co-chair of the World Federation of Public Health Associations sub-group on Professional Education and Training. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the WHO Roadmap to Secure the Public Health and Emergency Workforce and is co-chair of the Roadmap Technical Advisory Group for Competency Based Education.

Before relocating to the UK in late 2022, she was a long-standing editor for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, for several years for the Australian Epidemiologist, and was on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Peace and Security, and currently edits for Public Health Reviews. She was also Board member and deputy chair for the South Gippsland Health Service, Victoria and for CONCERN Australia, a faith-based NGO.

She teaches, publishes, and examines in public health, epidemiology, health services administration, and international public health. In 2021 she was awarded the GENI Award for Outstanding Contribution, and in 2022 the Australasian Public Health Association President’s Award for her outstanding contribution to the betterment of public health in Australia.

Priscilla’s expertise in epidemiology and surveillance has facilitated the work of GENI for several years, providing synergy with the skill sets of other members of the GENI management team and Medical Advisory Committee.

Contact: priscilla.robinson@latrobe.edu.au

Click here for a list of publications