ProfessorCatherine Bennett

My investigations into Staph and MRSA continue to expand, building on our globally unique biorepository research platform developed through a 721-participant cohort study following household for two years that had at least one person with a Staph infection, to understand patterns of colonisation and infections. In addition to samples of the Staph strains that caused infections or colonised household members, the study produced a bank of rich epidemiological data encompassing the household size and membership, peoples’ occupations and behaviours that might influence their risk of picking up Staph at work or in sport, and their living arrangements and how they mixed and shared items within the household. These samples and comprehensive dataset caught the attention of the Staten Serum Institute (SSI) in Denmark, and we are now partnering in a collaboration to apply their advanced genomics to investigate the relationships between Staph strains carried in households over time, and co-colonisation of different Staph strains.

I am also a co-investigator in research into period/pelvic pain in young people (a project led by Sonia Grover of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) looking into how those affected by pain are diagnosed and responded to by medical profession, the quality-of-life impacts that arise from how their pain can be managed, and the development of quality-of-life tools relevant to adolescents.

Another strand of my research involves working with Deakin’s AI specialists to discover the ‘fingerprints’ of disinformation and misinformation on the internet so that it can be identified and responded to. While early investigations were focused on dis/misinformation around COVID, a DFAT-funded grant has allowed us to extend this study into misinformation around climate change and climate-change policies in rural communities in Australia and Indonesia.

My current pandemic projects include global analyses of excess deaths (see the link to the C-MOR Research Consortium on the side bar for further details), public health risk communication, pathology service disruptions, and long-COVID treatment pathways. My publication list will take you to published outcomes from these projects.