Dr Louise Causer

Dr Causer is a medical epidemiologist at The Kirby Institute and lead of the Decentralised Diagnostics Implementation Research Group.  Dr Causer serves as a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research Education Committee and is a current Kirby Institute’s Post Graduate Coordinator.

Dr Causer has national and international expertise in applied epidemiology, implementation evaluations, health services and translational research in the field of infectious diseases. For the past decade, Dr Causer’s focus has been on co-designed, multidisciplinary research to evaluate and scale up interventions to improve the well-being and health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in rural and remote Australia. In particular, the use and integration of novel diagnostic technologies for the rapid detection of infectious diseases in primary care settings (sexually transmissible infections, COVID-19 and other respiratory infections). This research is underpinned by strong, meaningful, respectful stakeholder collaborations and has resulted in significant changes to policy and practice. Dr Causer has successfully led/co-led research attracting more than 13.5M and has authored more than 55 peer reviewed publications.

Dr Causer currently leads the STI component of the First Nations Infectious Diseases Point-of-Care Testing Program (previously known as TTANGO) which is delivered in partnership with Flinders University International Centre for Point of Care Testing and supports the implementation of decentralised molecular point-of-care STI testing for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and trichomonas in more than 75 rural and remote clinics nationally.

Prior to joining UNSW, Dr Causer held positions as a medical epidemiologist and Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (EIS) at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), medical officer to the polio eradication program at the World Health Organisation (Bangladesh), and research assistant at the UK National Heart Forum and European Centre on Health for Societies in Transition (ECOHOST). Dr Causer completed her clinical medical training with positions in Australia and USA.

Research Interests
Dr Causer has a long-standing interest and passion working and conducting multidisciplinary research to improve the control of infectious diseases. Her focus in recent years has been on STIs, including syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea and the potential role and impact for point-of-care tests in remote communities across Australia and Asia Pacific region.

In order for point-of-care tests to be considered for programmatic implementation they must demonstrate accuracy, reliability, acceptability and cost effectiveness in the required setting. Current and future collaborative work with colleagues in Australia and in the Asia Pacific region will evaluate new point-of-care diagnostic platforms for STIs including syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhoea and trichomonas and conduct implementation research to achieve full scale up of their use in a variety of settings.

Broad Research Areas
Global Health, Infectious Diseases, HIV, STIs, POC diagnostics, operational research, implementation science

Qualifications
MBBS, MScPH, DTM&H, PhD

Specific Research Keywords
STI diagnosis; Point-of-care testing; syphilis; chlamydia; gonorrhoea; Indigenous health; remote Australia