Professor Robert Booy

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Research interests

Professor Robert Booy joined the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) in March 2005 as Co-Director with a particular remit for research.

Professor Booy is a medical graduate of the University of Queensland (1984) and trained in Paediatrics at the Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane.

In 1990, he joined Professor Richard Moxon's Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, as a Research Fellow in charge of co-ordinating phase II and III studies of the Hib conjugate vaccine. Subsequently, he designed and implemented a national phase IV post-marketing study, which addressed long-term effectiveness of the Hib conjugate vaccine. This was done with the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit. His MD thesis was entitled Haemophilus influenzae type b: epidemiology and evaluation of vaccination.

In 1994, Professor Booy moved to Professor Mike Levin's Department of Paediatrics, St Mary's Hospital, London, to work as a Lecturer in Paediatric Infectious Diseases. In 1996, he was awarded a Wellcome training fellowship in epidemiology focusing on genetic factors important in meningococcal disease.

In 1999, he was appointed Professor of Child Health at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London.

He has interests in influenza, varicella, HPV, Hib, pneumococcal and meningococcal disease; in particular, documenting the morbidity resulting from disease, understanding genetic factors important in susceptibility to, or severity of, disease, testing the effectiveness of vaccines and assessing risk factors for disease and efforts in the community, primary care and hospital settings to improve outcomes.

Current national competitive grants*

2009

Social, Economic and Health benefits of vacciniating Children in day care centres against influenza
Booy R, Leask J, Sloots T, Lambert S
ARC Linkage Projects ($594,266 over 3 years)

Characterisation of H1N1 Influenza 09 in hospitalised children using Paediatric Active Enhanced Diseases Surveillance
Elliott E, Booy R, McIntyre P, Zurynski Y, Wood N
NHMRC Special Call Research On H1N1 Influenza ($123,361 over 1 year)

2006

Economic and Social Benefits of treating and preventing influenza in Aged Care Facilities
Booy R, Dwyer D, Leask J, Lindley R, MacIntyre R, Beutels P
ARC Linkage Project ($564,870 over 4 years)

* Grants administered through the University of Sydney