Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) - National Research Network on Human Health and Environmental Change

From Policy to Action: Co-Designing Research With Local Government to Advance Urban Greening

C Williams, Y Tefera, V Soebarto, J Kandulu, M Lowe, J Humphrey, T Croeser, L Daddow, B Willsmore

2026-04-01

Issue Addressed: Urban greenspaces are widely recognised for their benefits to public health, the environment and climate resilien..

Australian Research on Climate Change and Health Interventions: A Systematic Mapping Review

S Vardoulakis, L Kazda, R Haddock, AL Barratt, F McGain, K Wangdi, E Okokon, D Espinoza Oyarce, G Indu, N Goodman, V Matthews, P Spurrier, A McGushin, G Behrens, M Skellern

2026-03-01

Objectives: To review and thematically map published research on health-related climate change mitigation or adaptation interventi..

Reducing waste from single-use procedure packs in hospitals: A scoping review

AR Seville, KJL Bell, KM Pickles, S McAlister, P Colagiuri, L Kazda

2026-03-01

Single-use items in pre-packaged procedure packs are disposed of after opening, regardless of whether they were used. We aimed to ..

Aberrant cellular communities underlying disease heterogeneity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Y Zhang, H Wei, J Nouws, W Jiang, RM Brewster, JP Nguyen, SR Liang, SM Pass, W Wang, F Collin, AT Oill, SH Kim, SS Siller, J Liu, AY Zhao, P Hansbro, C Dela Cruz, C Britto, J Gomez, SM Cloonan

2026-02-01

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is clinically and molecularly heterogeneous. To investigate COPD heterogeneity, we pr..

Interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from health-system solid waste: a systematic review

A McGushin, E Okokon, RE Haddock, AT O’Brien, MR Turner, F McGain, C McGinley, A Wyns, S Vardoulakis, M Skellern

2026-02-01

SummaryWhen considering the entire lifecycle of products, including manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life disposal, he..

Healthcare Costs and Carbon Emissions of Stage III Melanoma Surveillance Imaging

JTW Williams, M Dieng, K Bell, S McAlister, RL Morton

2026-01-01

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the health system cost and carbon emissions of diagnostic imaging tests undertak..

Multi-omics to study chronic respiratory diseases and viral infections

S Idrees, H Chen, T Sadaf, SF Rehman, MD Johansen, KR Paudel, G Liu, Y Wang, MD Luecken, E Hortle, AS Philp, KF Budden, M O’rourke, GE Kaiko, SEM Lucas, JL Dickinson, PC Allen, JE Powell, LY Zhang, DC Chambers

2026-01-01

Despite recent advances, the underlying mechanisms of the development and progression of many chronic respiratory diseases remain ..

Health benefits of traffic emissions controls in melbourne, Australia

TB Chaston, S Utembe, J Choi, K Gopi, C Yuen, L Knibbs, IC Hanigan, R Broome, S Vardoulakis, S Mavoa, G Morgan

2025-12-15

Long term exposure to traffic related air pollution (TRAP) is associated with respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and mortali..

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with anaesthetic gases in Australia, 2002–2022: a retrospective descriptive analysis

K Verlis, JF Davies, F McGain, H Burch, AL Barratt, L Kazda

2025-12-08

Objectives: To assess changes in greenhouse gas emission rates associated with the use of anaesthetic gases (desflurane, sevoflura..

Black Summer arson: Examining the impact of climate misinformation and corrections on reasoning

ER Spearing, EJ Newman, I Walker, J Cook, T Kurz, UKH Ecker

2025-12-01

Climate misinformation has been identified as a barrier to mitigative action. One prominent example occurred when the 2019/2020 “B..

Reducing plastic in single-use central line insertion packs: A mixed methods observational study

AR Seville, L Kazda, S McAlister, KM Pickles, KJL Bell

2025-11-01

Central venous catheter (CVC) line insertion packs contain single-use plastic and metal items that are disposed of after the pack ..

Climate-related healthy housing risk factors: a scoping review of citizen science approaches

Adelle Mansour, Maria Rosa Gatto, Samantha Rowbotham, Kathryn Bowen, Rebecca Bentley

2025-08-01

The profound effects of climate change jeopardise the ability of housing to protect human health and wellbeing. Citizen science, w..

The 2024 report of the MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: Australia emerging as a hotspot for litigation

PJ Beggs, AJ Woodward, S Trueck, MK Linnenluecke, H Bambrick, AG Capon, Z Lokmic-Tomkins, J Peel, K Bowen, IC Hanigan, NB Arriagada, TJ Cross, S Friel, D Green, M Heenan, O Jay, H Kennard, A Malik, C McMichael, M Stevenson

2025-04-07

The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Australia was established in 2017 and produced its first national assessm..

Assessing the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 on 64 notifiable infectious diseases in Australia: A Bayesian Structural Time Series model

S Haque, SB Lambert, K Mengersen, IG Barr, L Wang, P Pongsumpun, Z Li, W Yang, S Vardoulakis, H Bambrick, W Hu

2025-03-01

Background: Several studies have examined the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on COVID-19 and other infectious d..

Balancing Economic and Social Cost and Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study of Reusable Isolation Gowns

N Dunbar, M Forrester, R Patrick, U Thanekar, J Ananthapavan

2025-01-01

Volatile organic compounds in regular and organic vaping liquids: a public health concern

N Goodman, N Nematollahi, JL Weinberg, J Flattery, SD Kolev, M Tong, S Vardoulakis, A Steinemann

2025-01-01

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are a growing public health concern. Vaping liquids used in e-cigarettes emit a range of chem..

A comprehensive analysis and risk evaluation of microplastics contamination in Australian commercial plant growth substrates: Unveiling the invisible threat

R Kandaiah, A Ravindran, L Panneerselvan, AC Manivannan, M Kulanthaisamy, Z Sobhani, G Bhagwat-Russell, T Palanisami

2024-12-05

In Australia, quality standards for composts and potting mixes are defined by AS4454–2012 and AS3743–2012. These standards outline..

Single-use synthetic plastic and natural fibre anaesthetic drug trays: a comparative life cycle assessment of environmental impacts

SJ Lightfoot, T Grant, A Boyden, S McAlister

2024-12-01

Background: Single-use anaesthetic drug trays are used widely in Australia, but their environmental impact is unclear. Methods: A ..

Internet-based Surveillance Systems and Infectious Diseases Prediction: An Updated Review of the Last 10 Years and Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

H McClymont, SB Lambert, I Barr, S Vardoulakis, H Bambrick, W Hu

2024-09-01

The last decade has seen major advances and growth in internet-based surveillance for infectious diseases through advanced computa..

Developing a Research Network of Early Warning Systems for Infectious Diseases Transmission Between China and Australia

C Lu, L Wang, I Barr, S Lambert, K Mengersen, W Yang, Z Li, X Si, H McClymont, S Haque, T Gan, S Vardoulakis, H Bambrick, W Hu

2024-07-26

This article offers a thorough review of current early warning systems (EWS) and advocates for establishing a unified research net..

How many carbon emissions are saved by doing one less MRI?

S McAlister, A Barratt, K Bell, F McGain

2024-06-01

Towards development of functional climate-driven early warning systems for climate-sensitive infectious diseases: Statistical models and recommendations

S Haque, K Mengersen, I Barr, L Wang, W Yang, S Vardoulakis, H Bambrick, W Hu

2024-05-15

Climate, weather and environmental change have significantly influenced patterns of infectious disease transmission, necessitating..

The 2023 report of the MJA-Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: sustainability needed in Australia's health care sector

Paul J Beggs, Stefan Trueck, Martina K Linnenluecke, Hilary Bambrick, Anthony G Capon, Ivan C Hanigan, Nicolas Borchers Arriagada, Troy J Cross, Sharon Friel, Donna Green, Maddie Heenan, Ollie Jay, Harry Kennard, Arunima Malik, Celia McMichael, Mark Stevenson, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Tran N Dang, Gail Garvey, Raymond Lovett

2024-04-01

The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Australia was established in 2017 and produced its first national assessm..

Solastalgia mediates between bushfire impact and mental health outcomes: A study of Australia's 2019–2020 bushfire season

Z Leviston, SK Stanley, RM Rodney, I Walker, J Reynolds, BK Christensen, C Monaghan, AL Calear, A Lal, J Lane, S Vardoulakis

2023-09-01

In 2019–2020, Australia experienced an unprecedented bushfire season that caused widespread environmental destruction across the c..

A Research Translation, Implementation and Impact Strategy for the Australian Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) Research Network

K Lyne, C Williams, S Vardoulakis, V Matthews, B Farrant, A Butt, I Walker, C Chu, M Dennekamp, DA Espinoza Oyarce, R Ivers, B Jalaludin, PJ Jones, K Martin, L Rychetnik

2023-07-01

Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) is the Australian national research network established to support improvements to health, t..

Considering health damages and co-benefits in climate change policy assessment

T Longden, T Kompas, R Norman, S Vardoulakis

2022-09-01

Type 2 immune polarization is associated with cardiopulmonary disease in preterm infants

JC Lao, CB Bui, MA Pang, SX Cho, I Rudloff, K Elgass, J Schröder, A Maksimenko, NE Mangan, MR Starkey, EM Skuza, YBY Sun, F Beker, CL Collins, OF Kamlin, K König, A Malhotra, K Tan, C Theda, MJ Young

2022-04-06

Postnatal maturation of the immune system is poorly understood, as is its impact on illnesses afflicting term or preterm infants, ..