COVID-19 experts available for media inquiries

HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH & AGED CARE

Professor Marilyn Cruickshank, Professor of Nursing, past president Australasian College of Infection Prevention and Control
Can comment on infection control and prevention (risk factors, masks, social distancing, hand hygiene etc), epidemiology of infection, children, policy direction, immunisation, safety and quality aspects.

Professor Margaret Fry, researcher, Professor of Nursing
Can comment on quality and safety of nursing care and patient outcomes, especially in older persons and emergency care.

Dr Jane Frawley, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health 
Can comment on vaccine safety (all vaccines), vaccinating kids (including when parents have differing views), variants, boosters etc. She is leading research to build a COVID-19 vaccination decision aid specifically for children. Can also comment on infection and hospitalisation in children.

Dr Rachael Murrihy, clinical psychologist, Director of the Kidman Centre UTS
Can comment on children, teenagers and COVID-19 – including return to school, and COVID-19-related stress, anxiety and depression.

Dr Abela Mahimbo, Lecturer in School of Public Health, former medical registrar in Tanzania
Can comment on infectious disease prevention and control, health equity in refugee and migrant traveller population groups.

Associate Professor Sally Inglis
Can comment on telehealth, virtual care, and other digital health platforms to provide care for people with chronic illnesses, in particular, cardiovascular disease, during the COVID-19 pandemic and as an alternative to face-to-face care outside of COVID-19.

Professor Ross Menzies, Graduate School of Health – psychology discipline
Can comment on death anxiety in the time of COVID-19; stuttering and speech pathology.

EDUCATION & SCHOOLS

Professor Shirley Alexander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Education and Students) 
Can comment on how universities respond to the needs and expectations of students post-COVID-19, as per her co-authored Conversation article. 

Associate Professor Jane Hunter, School of International Studies and Education
Can comment on technology distribution and learning online / from home in low SES families and schools; how parents can support their child’s learning and wellbeing during the pandemic; how new teachers need to be COVID-19-prepared professionals.

Dr Don Carter, senior lecturer, School of International Studies and Education
Can comment on back-to-school issues, literacy, curriculum implementation, NAPLAN, HSC English

Dr Damian Maher, senior lecturer, School of International Studies and Education 
Can comment on the use of digital technologies in both primary and secondary schools, cyberbullying, mobile technologies, connected classrooms. Damian is researching online learning during COVID-19 lockdowns in schools.

Geoff Hanmer, architect, Member of International Code Council (ICC) NEHA Pandemic Taskforce
Can comment on ventilation and COVID-19 transmission in schools, including measurement and mitigation strategies.

Dr Mihajla Gavin, lecturer, UTS Business School
Can comment on teachers’ pay and working conditions, teacher union responses / strikes, industrial relations environment and COVID-19.

BUSINESS, ECONOMY & SUPPLY CHAINS

Professor Michelle Baddeley, Associate Dean, UTS Business School
Can comment on behavioural economics and finance, specialising in social decision-making, behavioural macroeconomics, labour economics, and energy and the environment.

Dr Robyn Johns, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, formerly in corporate HR
Can comment on management of human resources, especially labour turnover, work-life balance and occupational stress.

Dr Moira Scerri, Lecturer in Strategic Supply Chain Management, UTS Business School
Can comment on new and emerging technologies (advanced analytics, telehealth, additive manufacturing and robotics) for health care services and surgical and medical devices.

Dr Maruf Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Supply Chain Management, UTS Business School
Can comment on supply chain disruptions in the wake of COVID-19 and strategies to overcome, vaccine operations and distribution challenges, health services operational challenges and resilience strategies due to COVID-19.

Associate Professor Ofer Mintz, Associate Head of Marketing, UTS Business School.
Can comment on helping businesses survive in a pandemic environment. His new book is The Post-Pandemic Business Playbook: Customer-Centric Solutions to Help Your Firm Grow.

Professor Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, Institute for Public Policy and Governance at UTS
Can comment on the global economy, international trade, geo-politics, labour markets, economics of climate change, regional development, economics/business of sport.

Dr Federico Davila, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures
Can comment on COVID-19 and Indo-Pacific food systems/security.

Associate Professor Samantha Sharpe, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures
Can comment on COVID-19 and its effect on the garment sector in Asia.

ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

Professor Michael Blumenstein, Deputy Dean, Faculty of Engineering & IT
Can comment on the use of technology (3D printing, robotics, manufacturing) in the fight against the spread of COVID-19; AI and data science for COVID modelling/prediction.

Dr Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani, Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering
Can comment on micro/nanotechnology, microfluidics, tissue engineering and biotechnology. He is currently working on several projects to introduce faster testing for COVID-19.

LAW

Dr Elyse Methven, senior lecturer
Can comment on COVID-19 fines and the policing of public health orders. Co-author of What to do if you’ve been fined for breaching coronavirus restrictions.

Professor Thalia Anthony 
Can comment on criminal law and procedure and Indigenous people and the law.

CITIES, BUILDING, ARTS & DESIGN

Professor Elizabeth Mossop, Dean of Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, Professor of Landscape Architecture 
Can comment on how cities can respond to and recover from the pandemic, such as investing in sustainable infrastructure, and a renewed focus on active transport. 

Associate Professor Timo Rissanen, Fashion & Textiles Course Director
Can comment on the opportunities for sustainable transformation within the Australian fashion industry that COVID-19-19 has highlighted.

Associate Professor Cherine Fahd, artist, photographer and academic 
Can comment on how the arts, photography and social media can connect people and communities affected by the isolation of COVID-19, and the creative ways the impacts of the pandemic are being communicated across creative arts communities and in everyday life on social media.

Berto Pandolfo and Stefan Lie, product designers, academics, members of the Integrated Product Design Research team
Can comment on the increased environmental impact of clinical waste due to the pandemic (masks, gowns, CPAP masks etc), and potential solutions for designing systems to safely recycle waste or design biodegradable alternatives.

Distinguished Professor Martin Loosemore, Construction Management academic
Can comment on why supporting vulnerable people through jobs in the construction industry can support Australia’s economic recovery.

Samantha Donnelly, Lecturer in Architecture 
Can comment on how domestic violence refuge providers and services are coping with the impacts of COVID-19.

HOUSING

Professor Alan Morris, Professor in the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at UTS
Can comment on housing issues, particularly for private renters and international students.

Dr Karena Viglianti, Senior Lecturer, School of Built Environment
Can comment on how COVID-19 changes have impacted property law and policy, specifically laws affecting rentals and offers relating to changes to mortgages.

For all inquiries, please contact the UTS media team:
newsroom@uts.edu.au or ring +61 419 293 261.