Celebrating Alumni Impact

Roan Kathleen Vitug

Master of Public Health (2024)

"My most memorable experience was the biostatistics teaching. I came in expecting a dry, technical subject, but the way it was taught made me genuinely fall in love with it. I am now a Digital Health Specialist with the World Health Organization Philippines Country Office, working within the team responsible for monitoring and evaluation, health information systems, and digital health. The quantitative and analytical foundation I built at Melbourne, especially in biostatistics, continues to underpin how I approach evidence and decision-making in this role."

Nilakshi Waidyatillake

PhD (2016)

"My academic trajectory has been shaped by a strong integration of clinical medicine, clinical research, research supervision and medical education leadership. I have built a diverse and impactful academic profile through curriculum leadership, student mentoring, research capacity building, teaching innovation, and scholarly contributions across medical education and clinical research.

I currently serve as Academic Lead of the Bachelor of Medical Science Honours program within the Department of Medical Education, MDHS.

I am proud to be an alumnus of the University of Melbourne and to now contribute to the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. It is a privilege to give back to an institution that has shaped my academic journey, and to support its ongoing mission in education, research and global engagement."

Likke Prawidya Putri

Master of Public Health (2012)

"One of my strongest memories from my MPH was spending evenings in the libraries until midnight—not always studying and finishing deadlines, but also chatting with friends over coffee, crepes and chicken wings. Academically, I learned that health promotion is much more than health education or awareness campaigns, or even providing adequate garbage bins. The greatest and most sustainable impact often comes from policies, regulations, and system-level changes. That idea fundamentally changed how I think about public health and inspired my career in health policy and health systems. One of the most meaningful milestones in my career has been helping establish a joint degree between our Master's programme and the University of Melbourne. It feels like coming full circle."

Professor Hugh Taylor AC

BMedSc (1970), MBBS (1971), GDipIOphth (1975), MD (1979)

"At the end of 3rd year, of the 6-year course back in the 1960s, we went to the teaching hospitals, and I chose to go into the first intake at the Austin Hospital. As the first group of students there we were welcomed most enthusiastically. My lecturer, Joan Schiavone’s, advice led me to a B Med Sci with Peter Morris at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, studying renal transplantation and immunology. After ophthalmology training I worked with Fred Hollows on trachoma and Aboriginal eye health, then took a corneal fellowship at the Wilmer Institute, Johns Hopkins, spending nearly 14 years on transplantation and infectious‑eye research. Returning to Melbourne in 1990 as Ringland Anderson Professor, I founded CERA in 1996 and later the Indigenous Eye Health Unit to “Close the Gap for Vision” and empower Aboriginal communities. I formally retired at the end of 2023 but continue in an emeritus position. In May 2026 WHO declared Australia had eliminated blinding trachoma - the culmination of a 50‑year effort. I couldn't have accomplished any of this without the strong encouragement to study more deeply given by Joan Schiavone."

Alvin Lee

Master of Public Health (2013)

"My favourite thing about the MPH was all the relationships and people I met while studying. From studying together for assignments to forming a MPH social netball team, I made great friends and still remain connected. I am incredibly fortunate that the MPH supported me to have such a meaningful journey in public health since graduating. I am currently the Director of Population Health at the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer. I also gained entry into the NSW Public Health Training Program shortly after completing the MPH which has been another career highlight. I am grateful that the MPH prepared me for such a diverse and rewarding career in public health."

Dr Krishna Prasad Paudel

Master of Public Health (2019)

"During the MPH program, I gained a deeper appreciation that health systems are profoundly shaped by political, social, and economic contexts. The course highlighted how political instability and weak governance can undermine health equity and disproportionately affect the poorest populations. After graduating, I returned to Nepal during a pivotal moment in public health history. My first assignment upon my return was as the Director of Kanti Children's Hospital, coinciding with the emergence of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The knowledge and skills I had gained through my studies in infectious disease epidemiology proved invaluable in guiding evidence-based decisions and strengthening hospital preparedness and response measures"

Wen Liu

Master of Public Health (2020)

"One of my most memorable experiences was participating in the MSPGH 2019 Mentoring Program as a mentee. As an international student navigating language, cultural, and financial barriers - let alone during COVID - deciding how to move forward in my career took real courage, and having a mentor who understood those challenges made a significant difference. After completing my Master's degree in 2020, I joined Gippsland Women's Health as a Health Promotion Officer, supporting multicultural community programmes on violence prevention, sexual and reproductive health, and women's mental health. I later returned to China as a research assistant at Zhejiang University, where I served as co-principal investigator on a Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)-funded project examining life-course pathways from adverse childhood experiences to violence among left-behind women in rural China."

Professor Denise Harrison

Master of Advanced Nursing Practice (2002), PhD (2007)

"I discovered that small amounts of sugar water (sucrose) when given to sick babies in the neonatal intensive care, reduced pain during repeated heel pricks (done for blood collection). Sucrose stayed effective and safe throughout prolonged hospitalisations when give before, and during repeated painful procedures. The research had a lasting impact and is used for sick and preterm babies around the world today to reduce pain. This work was done at the Royal Children’s Hospital, where I was working as a nurse, and I was jointly enrolled in the Department of Paediatrics and the School of Nursing. Following my PhD, I was fortunate to be offered a postdoctoral position at the University of Toronto, so on a hot +35 degree summers day, I moved to Toronto where it was very snowy, very dry and a very cold -25 degrees. Nearing the end of the 2 years postdoc period, although ready to come back to Australia, I applied for the Chair in Nursing Care of Children at the University of Ottawa and Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and was successful. I therefore stayed in Canada for another decade. I returned to where it all began, at The University of Melbourne, in January 2020."

Mohana Baptista

Master of Public Health (2019)

"That course inspired me to become the leader I am today, one who leads by listening. It shaped how I approach every team I've worked with since, from managing outbreak response during the pandemic to leading epidemiology teams today. I still think back to those discussions often. Through the academic credentials, professional contacts, and networking it provided, I was employed by the Department of Health Victoria as an epidemiologist supporting the COVID-19 pandemic response in April 2020 — a key turning point in my career. Within a year I was promoted to Director of Outbreak Management and Surveillance, providing intelligence and advice that informed policy and practice affecting the lives of all Victorians. Over the past few years, I've provided the data and evidence behind communicable disease and population health programs for a catchment of over 1.8 million people."

Holly Donaldson

Master of Public Health (2013)

"A highlight of my MPH was a research project that used social media to capture patient voices on access to after-hours services. It taught me that being right is not enough; you also need to be persuasive, and data alone rarely moves people in the way lived experience can. My degree took me to the intersection of public health, education and workforce reform. I now serve as Executive Director of CAPHIA, the peak body for academic public health across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific. What I am proudest of is not a single project, but a sustained pattern of building coalitions between students, academics, universities, government and policymakers. These partnerships help ensure public health education equips graduates to meet complex challenges locally, regionally and globally."

Linny Kimly Phuong

MBBS (2009), Master of Public Health (2018)

"My time at the University of Melbourne shaped how I think about health, both at the bedside and beyond it. Studying medicine taught me the privilege and responsibility of caring for individual patients and families. Returning to complete my Master of Public Health helped me see the broader systems, policies and social factors that influence whether people can access the care they need. I am now a paediatric infectious diseases physician, researcher, health advocate and Clinical Director of Women’s and Children’s Services at Bendigo Health. My career has combined clinical medicine, research, leadership, education and public health advocacy."

Naveen Tenneti

Master of Public Health (2013)

"I fondly remember studying infectious diseases epidemiology with Associate Professor Hazel Clothier - skills and knowledge that would be key in the years to come! Hazel had a dastardly simple form of assessment which was, each week, to summarise a core epidemiological term in under 250 words. Much harder than it sounds!! I have had a wonderful, unexpected and varying experience post my MPH, none of which i would have predicted. After completing my MPH i worked at the Victorian Department of Health in health protection and health reform units. I was drawn into the centre of the Victorian COVID-19 response where i had important roles overseeing outbreak management, vaccine safety and quality, and towards the end, overall strategy and policy for the response. "

Master of Public Health (2015)

"When I graduated in 2015, I returned to my country, Malawi, where I was tasked to spearhead improvements in quality of care in the country. The country was facing severe health systems challenges such as shortages of medicines, shortages of human resources for health, inadequate equipment, etc. Using skills and knowledge I gained in health program design and evaluation during my MPH course, I established the Department of Quality Management, and later government tasked me to lead the digitalization of the health sector and appointed me as Director of Quality Management and Digital Health. I have been supporting different countries such as Seychelles, Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, Ethiopia and Ghana; as well as WHO to support with strengthening national quality policy and strategies. I have moved to lead the technical services in the Ministry of Health in Malawi, led the Malawi Blood Transfusion Service as Medical Director and now Chief Executive Officer, where I am leading the transformation of the organization to save lives."