Professor Fiona Stanley Chair in Child Health Research
PhD, PD, BSc (Hons)
Professor Melissa Penny is the inaugural Fiona Stanley Chair in Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute.
Recently relocating to Australia from Switzerland she currently heads of the Intervention and Infectious Disease Modelling research team at Telethon Kids Institute. Until December 2023 she was a Professor at the University of Basel (Switzerland), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), heading the Disease Modelling Research unit (with over 24 staff and students in 2023).
Professor Penny has more than 18 years’ experience in developing mathematical and computational models to provide quantitative and model-based evidence to support infectious disease control and elimination decisions, in particular for product development, for policy decisions on new tools, or for intervention mixes in geographic settings.She leads international multi-institute consortiums to provide evidence to WHO and other stakeholders for decision making on new malaria interventions. This evidence includes the likely public health impact and cost-effectiveness of new interventions, such as the world’s first malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 (2015, 2018, and 2021), and more recently on novel immune therapies.
Professor Penny’s recent research focuses on developing data- and epidemiology-informed mathematical models and associated algorithms to understand pathogen, host and intervention dynamics, with the goal to inform decisions during product development through to implementation and policy recommendations. This includes machine learning applications with complex models for model calibration and for insights into epidemiological and intervention data. The focus of her science application and policy is on malaria, and more recently on SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory viruses.
She is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH), to develop and apply epidemiological and quantitative approaches for global health impact and for developing vaccines and interventions for vulnerable populations including children experiencing the highest burden of diseases like malaria. She has been a member of multiple WHO technical expert and guidance development groups, and currently contributes impact and economic evidence to WHO-SAGE and MPAG on new malaria vaccines.
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Publications
July 2024
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention and the spread of Plasmodium falciparum quintuple-mutant parasites resistant to sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine: a modelling study
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine prevents millions of clinical malaria cases in children younger than 5 years in Africa's Sahel region. However, Plasmodium falciparum parasites partially resistant to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (with quintuple mutations) potentially threaten the protective effectiveness of SMC. We evaluated the spread of quintuple-mutant parasites and the clinical consequences.
Published research Malaria Intervention and Infectious Disease ModellingJuly 2024Efficacy thresholds and target populations for antiviral COVID-19 treatments to save lives and costs: a modelling study
In 2023 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared endemic, yet hospital admissions have persisted and risen within populations at high and moderate risk of developing severe disease, which include those of older age, and those with co-morbidities. Antiviral treatments, currently only available for high-risk individuals, play an important role in preventing severe disease and hospitalisation within this subpopulation.
Published research Infectious Diseases COVID-19 Intervention and Infectious Disease ModellingMay 2024Severe outcomes of malaria in children under time-varying exposure
In malaria epidemiology, interpolation frameworks based on available observations are critical for policy decisions and interpreting disease burden. Updating our understanding of the empirical evidence across different populations, settings, and timeframes is crucial to improving inference for supporting public health.
Published research Infectious Diseases Malaria Intervention and Infectious Disease ModellingMarch 2024Design and selection of drug properties to increase the public health impact of next-generation seasonal malaria chemoprevention: a modelling study
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended for disease control in settings with moderate to high Plasmodium falciparum transmission and currently depends on the administration of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine.
Published research Malaria Intervention and Infectious Disease Modelling -
Education and Qualifications