Bulletin
#86 SPRING 2016
Air quality app applauded for disaster resilience contribution
Breathe easy: Dr Fay Johnston and app developer Chris Lucani check on the pollen in Hobart’s Knocklofty Reserve.
HEALTH INNOVATION
The AirRater smartphone app, led by Menzies environmental health researcher Dr Fay Johnston, has been recognised for its contribution to disaster resilience. In September AirRater won the Tasmanian Community section of the State Emergency Services 2016 Resilient Awards and is now eligible for a national Resilient Australia Award. The awards recognise projects that make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to manage any emergency situation. AirRater assists people with hay fever, allergies, asthma and other lung diseases and is now used by more than 1300 Tasmanians. Data is gathered for the app from air-quality sensors installed across Tasmania and from real-time weather data and forecasts, giving users information about pollen, particulate matter and temperature in their immediate area.
We are excited about our future opportunities and can’t wait to see what else we can achieve in the next year
This helps people to plan ahead because they can build up a picture of the air quality changes that might trigger their symptoms. In a separate competition, AirRater has also received a Merit award in the Community Services category of the Australian Information Industry Association National iAwards, which celebrate innovation in the digital economy. Dr Johnston said the
PART OF A GLOBAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY One of the ways in which Menzies has grown over its 27 years is through attracting an increasing number of staff and students from overseas. The Institute was established in 1988 (as the Menzies Centre for Population Health Research). In 2000 it was still a small centre, with 36 staff and research
students, however since then Menzies has seen an average annual increase in staff and students of 47%, and at the end of June this year Menzies had 284 staff and students. Of the 96 postgraduate research students enrolled at Menzies at the end of June this year, about two-thirds have come from overseas to study with us.
recognition would help the team to extend the app into other areas in Australia and elsewhere in the world. At the moment it is only operating in Tasmania. “We are excited about our future opportunities and can’t wait to see what else we can achieve in the next year,” she said. AirRater is a collaboration between Menzies, the University of Tasmania School of Biological Sciences, the Tasmania Environment
Protection Authority, CSIRO, the Australian National University and the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services. It is funded by Sense-T, which is a partnership between the University, CSIRO and the Tasmanian Government. www.airrater.org
Menzies has an established collaboration agreement with Anhui Medical University in China which has led to 28 students coming to Menzies to undertake their PhDs, with a further six students arriving in October. Menzies also has a Memorandum of Understanding with X’ian Jiaotong University. Apart from the students, Menzies currently has two Visiting Fellows from China and in the past has hosted Research
Fellows from Anhui, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Kunming. We also have clinicianresearchers from overseas working with us and the Royal Hobart Hospital. Apart from China we have students from Vietnam, Mexico, Columbia, France, Sri Lanka, India, the United Kingdom, Russia and Japan. “We need to attract the best people in our research areas
The AirRater app can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play.
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