DrJane Frawley

Jane Frawley is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health within the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and Deputy Head of School (Research). Jane's research interests include maternal and child health, infectious disease prevention, and health communication. Her work draws on epidemiological, and social and behavioural science frameworks with data from population-based surveys, routinely collected and linked datasets, qualitative interviews, and co-design approaches. This work seeks to understand the drivers of vaccination and infectious disease control and to develop evidence-based solutions that reach diverse and underserved communities.

A defining feature of Jane's research is its translational reach. Her findings directly inform national and international immunisation policy, clinical practice guidelines, and the design of culturally tailored health communication resources. She has a strong track record of leading collaborative, multidisciplinary research teams that bring together public health, clinical, communication, and community expertise to address complex systemic and community challenges. 

Jane has also established a program of work in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) with adolescents in Fiji using a Sport 4 Development framework that aims to help young people live safe, connected and healthy lives. This work is strongly connected with community and culture and applies a strengths based appproach to enhancing youth confidence and wellbeing.

Jane has an established research program across the Pacific region, partnering with Pacific Island governments, UN agencies, and regional research institutions to strengthen immunisation systems and support country-led health programs. She is a steering committee member of the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance (ARIA), and serves on the Advisory Group on Strengthening Immunisation Provider Education in the Indo-Pacific Region at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS).

Her research has been funded by the NHMRC, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, UNICEF, the Pacific Community, the Australian Digital Health Agency, the Australian Partnership for Preparedness Research on Infectious Disease Emergencies (APPRISE), and the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance (ARIA).

Jane is working on a variety of projects including:

• Enriching adolescent health and wellbeing in Fiji: building for the future through sport and education (EAGLES),

• Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatits B in the Pacific region,

• Investigating the impacts of climate change on SRHR needs for women in the Pacific region,

• Sustainability review of the Australian National Immunisation Program

• Developing digital vaccine information resources in Fiji to help parents make confident vaccine decisions,

• Co-developing and evaluating vaccine information resourses in the Solomon Islands,

• Collaborative measles surveillance to prevent outbreaks in Southeast Asia,

• A national immunisation coverage survey in Fiji,

• Optimising measles vaccination programs for children under five in sub-Saharan Africa,

• Supporting immunisation program efforts in the Western Pacific Region, 

Maternity and child health | Infectious disease epidemiology | Health service utilisation | Health service research | Attitudes and decision making in relation to health care | Attitudes to vaccination | Adolescent SRHR