Professor
Fay JohnstonProfile page
Professor
Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Orcid identifier0000-0002-5150-8678
- ProfessorMenzies Institute for Medical Research
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Menzies Institute for Medical Research, 354b Medical Science 2, Hobart CBD Campuses, TAS
BIO
Professor Fay Johnston is public health physician and environmental epidemiologist who heads the environmental health research group at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research. Her main research areas include bushfires, climate change, air quality and health, the health impacts of wood smoke and aeroallergens, and interventions for protecting health from airborne hazards.
She leads the Centre for safe Air, a NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence, co-leads the Bushfires, Air Pollution and Extreme Events theme of the NHMRC Healthy Environments and Lives Network and the Air Quality Impact Priority of the Sustainable Communities and Waste hub of the National Environmental Science Program.
She established a partnership between Menzies and the School of Natural Sciences to create a new facility - FireLab3 comprising bioenergy, emissions and flammability testing research labs.
She has made major contributions to the global knowledge about the health impacts of bushfire smoke and evidence for policy interventions during extreme pollution episodes. She leads the Latrobe Early Life Follow-up Study investigating long-term cardiorespiratory, health and development of children exposed to a severe pollution event associated with a coal mine fire during their first 1000 days of life.
Her team developed AirRater, a real-time environmental and symptom surveillance system designed to support self-management for people with health conditions sensitive to outdoor airborne hazards like smoke and pollen which has won multiple awards for innovation, impact, and community disaster resilience.
In 2018 she was named a global woman leader in fire science. In 2019 she received the Public Health Association of Australia Tony McMichael Award for Ecology, Environment and Health and was named Air Quality Champion of year by the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand. She won the 2021 Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Research Excellence Impact Award for translation of research for the benefit of society and delivered the 2022 Ian Cottrell Oration for the Royal Australian College of Physicians.
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy, (environmental epidemiology), Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Australia, 2008. Health Impacts of Bushfire Smoke in the Australian Monsoon Tropics
Fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Australia, 1999
Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, Australia, 1998
Master of Applied Epidemiology, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Australia, 1997. Outbreaks Out Bush: Applied epidemiology in the Northern territory
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia, 1987
Diploma in Anaesthesia, Royal College of Anaesthetists, UK, 1992
Diploma in Obstetrics, Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Australia, 1990
Professional Memberships
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
Australian Epidemiology Association
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
She leads the Centre for safe Air, a NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence, co-leads the Bushfires, Air Pollution and Extreme Events theme of the NHMRC Healthy Environments and Lives Network and the Air Quality Impact Priority of the Sustainable Communities and Waste hub of the National Environmental Science Program.
She established a partnership between Menzies and the School of Natural Sciences to create a new facility - FireLab3 comprising bioenergy, emissions and flammability testing research labs.
She has made major contributions to the global knowledge about the health impacts of bushfire smoke and evidence for policy interventions during extreme pollution episodes. She leads the Latrobe Early Life Follow-up Study investigating long-term cardiorespiratory, health and development of children exposed to a severe pollution event associated with a coal mine fire during their first 1000 days of life.
Her team developed AirRater, a real-time environmental and symptom surveillance system designed to support self-management for people with health conditions sensitive to outdoor airborne hazards like smoke and pollen which has won multiple awards for innovation, impact, and community disaster resilience.
In 2018 she was named a global woman leader in fire science. In 2019 she received the Public Health Association of Australia Tony McMichael Award for Ecology, Environment and Health and was named Air Quality Champion of year by the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand. She won the 2021 Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Research Excellence Impact Award for translation of research for the benefit of society and delivered the 2022 Ian Cottrell Oration for the Royal Australian College of Physicians.
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy, (environmental epidemiology), Menzies School of Health Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Australia, 2008. Health Impacts of Bushfire Smoke in the Australian Monsoon Tropics
Fellowship of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Australia, 1999
Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, Australia, 1998
Master of Applied Epidemiology, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Australia, 1997. Outbreaks Out Bush: Applied epidemiology in the Northern territory
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia, 1987
Diploma in Anaesthesia, Royal College of Anaesthetists, UK, 1992
Diploma in Obstetrics, Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Australia, 1990
Professional Memberships
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
Australian Epidemiology Association
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
SCHOOL AND PORTFOLIO
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research