One Health Wonders

One Health Wonders Webinar:
Tick-borne illness and One Health

We are delighted to invite you to the next One Health Wonders webinar: Tick-borne illness and One Health. The webinar will be held on Tuesday, 4 August 2026 from 2:00-3:00pm AEST.

Presented in partnership between the Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and CSIRO, this session will explore tick-borne illness and their implications on the One Health landscape in Australia.

Pricing

• Free

Dates and Times

Contact

Sophia Wang

More information

This webinar will include short presentations followed by a panel discussion with the following speakers:

• Dr Alex Gofton - Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO
• Dr Sheryl van Nunen - Clinical Professor, the University of Sydney and Macquarie University
• Dr Cameron Stewart - Team Leader, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, CSIRO
• Mr Stephen Doggett - Director, Department of Medical Entomology, New South Wales Health Pathology

We will hear from these experts about the following topics:

• Tick-induced mammalian meat allergy in Australia: National prevalence and geographic distribution from laboratory surveillance, 2012-2024
• Mammalian meat allergy after tick bite: A 21st century pandemic of non-communicable disease
• Circulating microRNA profiles associated with tick bite and debilitating symptom complexes attributed to ticks (DSCATT)
• Paralysis ticks: Understanding the threat and preventing bites

Please register by clicking the 'Register' button. The webinar will be recorded and shared with all registrants.

Presenters

Dr Alex Gofton

Dr Alexander Gofton is a Senior Research Scientist in the Vectors and Disease Modelling group at CSIRO Health & Biosecurity. His research focuses on vector-borne diseases of public health significance, with a particular emphasis on tick-transmitted conditions and their impacts on human health. Over more than a decade, Dr Gofton has studied the range of pathogens and parasites carried by Australia's endemic ticks, and their significance for human and animal health. His work characterising Australia's endemic Borrelia fauna (tick-transmitted bacteria) helped confirm that Australia is free from Lyme disease and that endemic forms of these bacteria do not cause disease in humans. He currently leads Australia's national surveillance system for mammalian meat allergy (alpha-gal syndrome) and has been instrumental in building the epidemiological evidence base for this condition in Australia. He holds adjunct appointments at the University of Queensland and the Australian National University.

Dr Sheryl van Nunen

Sheryl is a clinician researcher and medical educator who, found in 1987, and then, in 2007, first described the association between mammalian meat anaphylaxis and prior tick bites. She has over 220 publications to her credit, the majority in tick-induced allergies: mammalian meat allergy after tick bite and tick anaphylaxis. In 2013, she convened the TiARA (Tick-induced Allergies Research and Awareness) Committee, the peak resource for tick-induced allergies: 2019-2020 Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into allergies and anaphylaxis; working with the Australian Government of Health to try and develop world-leading advice in tick bite prevention and management; working with pharma to develop a tick-specific ether spray (both in Australia and internationally); funding and fostering research underpinning tick bite prevention and management advice. Her research interests comprise mammalian meat allergy/anaphylaxis following previous tick bite and its myriad implications (including its increased burden of coronary artery disease), and tick-induced anaphylaxis. Publications and research in tick-induced allergies are numerous, current and ongoing. In January 2021, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to Medicine, particularly to Clinical Immunology and Allergy; elected a Fellow of The Royal Society (NSW) 2022, The Surgeon-General John White Medal 2023.

Dr Cameron Stewart

Cameron is a Research Team Leader based at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong. His team investigates host-pathogen interactions to develop novel intervention strategies, with particular expertise in host microRNA biomarkers for the detection of infection and prediction of disease severity. Cameron is a recipient of the CSIRO Julius Career Award and the Chairman's Medal for his contributions to COVID-19 vaccine development research. Cameron completed his training at the University of Melbourne and Harvard Medical School.

Stephen Doggett

Stephen L. Doggett is Director of the Department of Medical Entomology, NSW Health Pathology, at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He has more than 40 years of experience in medical entomology, has authored over 500 papers, and has delivered more than 550 lectures and conference presentations, including invited presentations in 24 countries. His research encompasses mosquito surveillance and management, mosquito-borne diseases, ticks and tick-borne diseases, and bed bugs. His work has been cited in more than 5,490 scientific publications, and he has made over 425 media appearances, including more than 40 television interviews. Stephen and his team have been at the forefront of research into preventing tick bites in Australia. Their studies have evaluated topical repellents, permethrin-impregnated clothing and ultrasonic repellent devices, with the findings helping to inform current national guidance on tick-bite prevention. During the early 1990s, Stephen investigated the possible aetiology of Lyme disease in Australia. He has subsequently undertaken numerous tick-related risk assessments, including serving as a consultant for the Sydney Olympic Games. Stephen has collaborated with many institutions on research into ticks and tick-borne diseases, publishing approximately 40 tick-related papers and delivering more than 75 conference presentations on the subject. He is the only expert to have served on both major national tick-related committees: the Clinical Advisory Committee on Lyme Disease in Australia and Tick-induced Allergies Research and Awareness.