Contacts

Professor David Wilson

Head of Infectious Disease Modelling; Co-Head, Strategy Insights and Impact

Background

Professor David Wilson completed his PhD on infectious disease modelling in 2003, studying at Queensland University of Technology as well as at Oxford University and ETH Switzerland. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of California, Los Angeles on HIV epidemic modelling and optimal allocation of HIV antiretroviral drugs, informing World Health Organization guidelines and policy and practice for treatment roll-out in sub-Saharan Africa.

He leads the Optima team, which conducts modelling, health economic and resource allocation studies for governments as well as regional and global health agencies and international donors. He was the winner of a Eureka Prize in 2013 and the Royal Society of NSW’s Edgeworth David Medal in 2014.

Professor Wilson has attracted around $60 million in competitive funding, published approximately 200 papers in academic journals, approximately 60 analytical and/or surveillance reports for national governments, and given more than 400 oral presentations at national and international conferences and workshops.

Appointments

  • 2015 – Professor, Head, Infectious Disease Modelling, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia
  • 2015 – Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
  • 2015 – Professorial Visiting Fellow, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales
  • 2009-2014 – Associate Professor, Head, Surveillance and Evaluation Program; Head, Disease Modelling and Financing Program, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  • 2009 – Senior Lecturer, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  • 2007-2008 – Research Fellow, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  • 2005-2006 – Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow / Lecturer, Complex Systems in Biology Group, Centre for Vascular Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  • 2004-2005 – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biomathematics & UCLA AIDS Institute, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), USA

Positions

  • 2015 – Chair, Optima TB Technical Group
  • 2015 – Member, Optima TB Steering Group
  • 2015 – Member, WHO Working Group on HIV Incidence Assays
  • 2015 – Reviewer, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade “Risk and economic implications of importation and transmission of Ebola in the Asia-Pacific region”
  • 2015-2017 – Member, Advisory Panel, Maximizing ART for Better Health and Zero New HIV Infections (MaxART) programme: Early Access to ART for All in Swaziland
  • 2014 – Member, Expert Advisory Group, Australian Burden of Disease Study for Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • 2014 – Member, UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling and Projections
  • 2001-2014 (Extensive experience as an editor, consultant, reviewer, advisor and committee member for a broad range of journals, associations, working groups and bodies including Australian Red Cross, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kirby Institute, International AIDS Society, The Lancet, UNAIDS, UNODC, WHO and World Bank.)

Qualifications

  • 2007-2008 – Graduate Certificate of Biostistics, University of Sydney (School of Public Health), Sydney, Australia
  • 2001-2003 – Doctor of Philosophy (Infectious Disease Modelling), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Oxford University, England; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2000-2001 – Bachelor of Applied Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
  • 1996-1999 – Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
  • 1996-1999 – Bachelor of Information Technology (Computer Science), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

Awards

  • 2014 – Winner, Royal Society of New South Wales Edgeworth David Medal
  • 2013 – Winner, 3M Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science
  • 2009 – UNSW Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Rising Star Award
  • 2008 – NSW Tall Poppy Science Award, Australian Institute of Policy and Science

Projects (5)

Current (4)

  • Decision science using Optima

  • HCV Elimination Modelling

  • The elimination of hepatitis C as a global public health threat

  • The Optimise Study: Optimising Isolation, Quarantine and Distancing for COVID-19

Publications (205)

2023 (2)

2022 (4)

2021 (8)

2020 (8)

2019 (10)

2018 (19)

2017 (8)

2016 (13)

2015 (26)

2014 (24)

2013 (31)

2012 (28)

2011 (22)

2010 (2)

News Articles (12)

2020 (1)

2019 (3)

2018 (1)

2016 (5)

2015 (2)

Contact Details

Email

david.wilson@burnet.edu.au

Working Group

Programs

Discipline

  • Public Health

Research Themes