Melissa Penny
Professor Fiona Stanley Chair in Child Health Research
PhD, PD, BSc (Hons)
melissa.penny@thekids.org.au
Professor Melissa Penny is the inaugural Fiona Stanley Chair in Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia and The Kids Research Institute Australia.
Recently relocating to Australia from Switzerland she currently heads of the Global Disease Modelling research team at The Kids. Until December 2023 she was a Professor at the University of Basel (Switzerland), Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), heading the Disease Modelling Research unit (with over 24 staff and students in 2023).
Professor Penny has more than 18 years’ experience in developing mathematical and computational models to provide quantitative and model-based evidence to support infectious disease control and elimination decisions, in particular for product development, for policy decisions on new tools, or for intervention mixes in geographic settings. She leads international multi-institute consortiums to provide evidence to WHO and other stakeholders for decision making on new malaria interventions. This evidence includes the likely public health impact and cost-effectiveness of new interventions, such as the world’s first malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 (2015, 2018, and 2021), and more recently on novel immune therapies.
Professor Penny’s recent research focuses on developing data- and epidemiology-informed mathematical models and associated algorithms to understand pathogen, host and intervention dynamics, with the goal to inform decisions during product development through to implementation and policy recommendations. This includes machine learning applications with complex models for model calibration and for insights into epidemiological and intervention data. The focus of her science application and policy is on malaria, and more recently on SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory viruses.
She is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and Basel Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH), to develop and apply epidemiological and quantitative approaches for global health impact and for developing vaccines and interventions for vulnerable populations including children experiencing the highest burden of diseases like malaria. She has been a member of multiple WHO technical expert and guidance development groups, and currently contributes impact and economic evidence to WHO-SAGE and MPAG on new malaria vaccines.
Education and Qualifications
- 2020-2023: Professor, Head Disease Modelling research Unit at Swiss TPH, University of Basel, Switzerland
- SNSF Professorship, University of Basel (2017-2024)
- PD, Habilitation at the University of Basel (2017)
- PhD, in Applied Mathematics, Queensland University of Technology (2002-2005)
- BSc (Hons) Bachelor of Applied Science with Honours (Mathematics, First Class Honours), Queensland University of Technology (1998-2001)
Published research
AnophelesModel: An R package to interface mosquito bionomics, human exposure and intervention effects with models of malaria intervention impact
In recent decades, field and semi-field studies of malaria transmission have gathered geographic-specific information about mosquito ecology, behaviour and their sensitivity to interventions. Mathematical models of malaria transmission can incorporate such data to infer the likely impact of vector control interventions and hence guide malaria control strategies in various geographies.
Intervention effect of targeted workplace closures may be approximated by single-layered networks in an individual-based model of COVID-19 control
Individual-based models of infectious disease dynamics commonly use network structures to represent human interactions. Network structures can vary in complexity, from single-layered with homogeneous mixing to multi-layered with clustering and layer-specific contact weights. Here we assessed policy-relevant consequences of network choice by simulating different network structures within an established individual-based model of SARS-CoV-2 dynamics.
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention and the spread of Plasmodium falciparum quintuple-mutant parasites resistant to sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine: a modelling study
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine prevents millions of clinical malaria cases in children younger than 5 years in Africa's Sahel region. However, Plasmodium falciparum parasites partially resistant to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (with quintuple mutations) potentially threaten the protective effectiveness of SMC. We evaluated the spread of quintuple-mutant parasites and the clinical consequences.
Efficacy thresholds and target populations for antiviral COVID-19 treatments to save lives and costs: a modelling study
In 2023 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared endemic, yet hospital admissions have persisted and risen within populations at high and moderate risk of developing severe disease, which include those of older age, and those with co-morbidities. Antiviral treatments, currently only available for high-risk individuals, play an important role in preventing severe disease and hospitalisation within this subpopulation.
Severe outcomes of malaria in children under time-varying exposure
In malaria epidemiology, interpolation frameworks based on available observations are critical for policy decisions and interpreting disease burden. Updating our understanding of the empirical evidence across different populations, settings, and timeframes is crucial to improving inference for supporting public health.
Design and selection of drug properties to increase the public health impact of next-generation seasonal malaria chemoprevention: a modelling study
Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended for disease control in settings with moderate to high Plasmodium falciparum transmission and currently depends on the administration of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine.