AAMRI Rising Star finalists for 2024 (L-R): Dr Tuba Nur Gide, Dr Matthew Hare, A/Prof Amanda Gwee, Dr Kefyalew Alene (photo courtesy of Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes)
A leading tuberculosis researcher from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University has been named a finalist for the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) 2024 Rising Star Award.
The award, sponsored by CSL, was created by AAMRI to highlight early career researchers across Australia who are achieving significant impact through research, leadership and innovation.
Dr Kefyalew Alene, who heads the Geospatial and Tuberculosis team at The Kids and is a senior research fellow within the Curtin School of Population Health, is a finalist in recognition of his globally influential research, which has shed new light on tuberculosis (TB) transmission and its consequences.
“TB is one of the most common causes of death globally, particularly in low-income countries where people have limited access to accurate diagnosis and treatment,” Dr Alene said.
“Annually, it affects more than 10 million people – including a million children under the age of 15 – and causes around 1.5 million deaths.
“Although in countries like Australia TB is a disease of the past, for many around the world it remains a serious threat.”
Among other work, Dr Alene has developed innovative geospatial modelling methods to accurately pinpoint high-risk TB areas for targeted interventions. His methods have allowed for precise, data-driven predictions about the spread of TB, generating the first high-resolution maps of the condition. His work has, for the first time, quantified the global burden of post-TB health impacts, and has informed World Health Organization tuberculosis guidelines and control programs.
“This kind of research is vital to help governments and health authorities understand where TB is most prevalent so they can provide the most effective responses,” Dr Alene said.
Dr Alene – who is also a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellow and a recent visiting Research Fellow at Harvard University and the Australian National University – is one of four national finalists for the AAMRI Rising Star Award.
The winner will be announced on 27 November by Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler at the AAMRI Dinner at Australian Parliament House, Canberra.
For more on the finalists, see AAMRI’s media statement here.