Hepatitis B and C

• discovery science 

• co-design,community engagement, implementation science and clinical trials 

• surveillance and mathematical modelling.

Discovery science

We are developing new point-of-care diagnostic tests to help provide care for hepatitis C in community settings.

In collaboration with global partners, we are working to develop a hepatitis C vaccine.

Co-design, community engagement, implementation science and clinical trials

We bring together people diagnosed with, or at risk of, viral hepatitis and service providers to identify innovative approaches to hepatitis C care.

People at risk include: 

• people who inject drugs 

• people from Indigenous communities 

• culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Service providers include: 

• pharmacies  

• general practice 

• other primary care services.

This collaborative approach helps improve health outcomes for people with hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Key examples of this approach include:  

• The EXPAND-C program, which aims to increase hepatitis C testing and treatment through community pharmacies. 

• The It’s Your Right project, a peer-led hepatitis C health campaign for people who inject drugs. 

• A new partnership with people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities to increase awareness and engagement in hepatitis B care and cancer prevention.

We also work in the justice health sector to: 

• reduce hepatitis C transmission among people in prison, a group with known high hepatitis C prevalence 

• design models of care for people involved in the criminal justice system, seeking to improve the accessibility of testing and treatment.

Surveillance and mathematical modelling

We analyse surveillance data to identify changes in testing and treatment that could affect whether Australia’s goals to eliminate hepatitis C are achieved.

Our qualitative research analyses how health systems can respond more effectively to the lived experience of communities most affected by hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

We use mathematical modelling to assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis C. 

• the culture of the people we are targeting for care, particularly in Australia where there are many culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities 

• the prevalence of hepatitis B in the community with whom we are working.

In Australia, healthcare should also be enabled by structuring the health system to support people from CALD communities. This includes providing educational materials in multiple languages, interpreters and peer support groups.   

Simply-B is a project investigating ways to improve how primary care and hospitals work together to ensure people at risk of hepatitis B are tested, treated and maintained in care.

Separate work underway in Vanuatu aims to increase pregnant women's access to hepatitis B treatment to stop mother to child transmission. 

Burnet has identified cost-effective ways to improve the delivery and management of the hepatitis B birth dose (HepB-BD) vaccine. If implemented, these measures would prevent 36.3 million years of life lost to ill health, disability or early death resulting from hepatitis B.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C vaccine development

Our discovery science research defined how the hepatitis C virus enters cells and evades immunity.

We used this knowledge to design vaccine candidates that generate broad, protective immune responses and identify key viral entry mechanisms. These insights inform hepatitis C vaccine development.

Hepatitis C models of care

Our Treatment and Prevention Study, was a world-first study on a specific nurse-led model of care to treat people who inject drugs and their injecting partners with a new direct-acting antiviral therapy to cure their hepatitis C.

Our Prime Study was a world-first study that compared the effectiveness of hepatitis care in community-based clinics with tertiary hospital care. The conclusion: hepatitis C treatment in primary care increases treatment uptake and cure.

We work to streamline prison systems for hepatitis care. We do this by developing guidelines and recommendations for in-prison prevention, testing, treatment and care.

Policy development and global partnerships

To support global elimination goals, we collaborated on the development of the first World Health Organisation guidelines for hepatitis C screening care and treatment.

We also established the Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia (EC Australia) partnership in pursuit of these goals. The initiative unites researchers, implementation scientists, government, health services and community organisations.