Associate Professor David Regan

Associate Professor David Regan has held a position as an Infectious Disease Modeller at the Kirby Institute since 2005. He is the Leader of the Sexually Transmitted Infections Prevention Modelling Group within the Biostatistics and Databases Program. His PhD research focused on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study molecular diffusion in red blood cell suspensions and other complex and compartmentalised systems, and the development of computational simulations of this experimental system to aid in the analysis of results. On completion of his PhD, he joined the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering at UNSW Sydney as a New South Global Postdoctoral Fellow where he applied the expertise gained during his PhD to the study of diffusion and perfusion of high molecular weight solutes in hydrogels using NMR and computational models. Since joining the Kirby Institute in 2005 he has switched focus to epidemiology and the use of mathematical models of infectious disease transmission to understand the dynamics and spread of infectious diseases in human populations, and to evaluate public health interventions for control and prevention.

Research Interests:

My research activity focuses on the development and use of mathematical models of disease transmission for the evaluation of public health strategies for their control and prevention. Sexually transmitted infections are a particular focus and my interests in this area include estimating the impact of human Papillomavirus vaccination in Australia, the control of bacterial STIs (Chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhoea) and trichomoniasis in remote indigenous communities, and evaluating strategies for mitigating the impact of antimicrobial resistant gonorrhoea. I also have an interest and have conducted research in neglected tropical diseases such as scabies and soil transmitted helminths, and the impact of climate change on infectious diseases. The work conducted in my research group has an important role in informing public health policy, particularly in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Broad Research Areas:
Infectious Diseases, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Epidemiology, Population Health, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Genomic Epidemiology, Climate Change, Antimicrobial Resistance

Qualifications:
BA Cum Laude (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology), BSc Hons I (University of Sydney), PhD Physical Biochemistry (University of Sydney).

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:

Current Society Memberships
Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM), International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research (ISSTDR), International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI).

Previous Society Memberships
AIDS Council of New South Wales (ACON), HPV Health Economic Consortium (supported by CSL Ltd), Tristate STI/HIV Management Committee (advisory role), NHMRC Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee & Working Group on Blood Matters (advisory role), HIV Modelling in Victoria 1995, Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (ASBTE), Australian and New Zealand Society for Magnetic Resonance (ANZMAG), International Society for Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR).

Editorial Board Duties
Academic Editor PLoS ONE
Associate Editor BMC Infectious Diseases

Other
NHMRC Assigners Academy 2017-2018
NHMRC Project Grants Review Panel 2019
NHMRC Ideas Grants Review Panel 2020-2021