WHOCC for Vector-borne & NTDs Our People

Our People

Welcome from the Directors

James Cook University (JCU) has been supporting control of vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases since the initial designation of a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) in 1996 (AUS-68). It has through various re-designations broadened its outreach from lymphatic filariasis alone to include soil-transmitted helminths and then other neglected tropical diseases. It has been supported by the Anton Breinl Centre for Public Health and Tropical Medicine until 2012 and by the School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences. In 2014, the WHOCC (AUS-68) was formally incorporated in the new College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences at JCU and was discontinued in favour of developing a new overarching designation in 2016. The new WHOCC for Vector-borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases was designated in September 2017 (AUS-131).

The new WHOCC (AUS-131) is committed with other Collaborating Centres globally in the field of vector-borne diseases being able to draw on significant expertise in vector biology and mosquito-borne diseases. It is also one of three WHOCCs dedicated to neglected tropical diseases. With four other WHOCCs, it remains globally committed to the elimination of lymphatic filariasis, particularly in the Western Pacific Region (WPR). The Collaborating Centre continues to support and expand the development of surveillance, research capacity building, control programs, training and control program monitoring and evaluation in the Western Pacific Region. It also supports the international efforts of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine at James Cook University.

Dr Maria Castellanos Reynosa
Professor Maxine Whittaker

Faculty

Directors

Specialists

Executive Officer

  • Ms Linda Barrie

Postgraduate Students

  • Ms Kathy Fowden
  • Ms Diane Dogcio Hall

Interns

  • Sinead Rush

Adjunct Faculty