John Gerrard (doctor)

Last updated
Dr John Gerrard
Chief Health Officer of Queensland
Assumed office
13 December 2021

John Gerrard is currently the Chief Health Officer of Queensland, beginning the role in December 2021. Gerrard has a record in research of emerging infectious diseases and vaccine development, investigating AIDS in Australia and dealing with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. [3] Gerrard has additionally become notable during the COVID-19 Pandemic, previously working as a director of infectious diseases at the Gold Coast University Hospital and being the first doctor in Queensland to treat a COVID-19 patient. [4]

Contents

Career

Gerrard was born in 1960 and attended medical school at the University of Sydney, studying a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery. Dr Gerrard had attended the medical school together with former Chief Health Officer of Queensland, Jeannette Young. [5] After graduating, Gerrard worked as a doctor at the Royal Prince Alfred in Sydney. Gerrard has spent many years researching infectious diseases and vaccine developments. He identified the nation's first known person with AIDS, 12 years after the patient died of a "mystery" pneumonia, which proved HIV was in Australia from February 1981. Gerrard also helped to deal with an Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. [1]

Gerrard assisted in designing the Gold Coast University Hospital to be able to deal with an outbreak of an airborne infectious disease such as COVID-19. In late January 2020, Gerrard treated the first Queensland COVID-19 patient, who was a 44-year-old man from Wuhan, China. This was before the novel coronavirus that had started transmitting throughout the world had been named. Gerrard also in addition treated Hollywood actor Tom Hanks for COVID-19 on the Gold Coast. [1] Additionally, Dr Gerrard was the lead medical specialist in two separate international COVID responses. This included the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Outbreak in Japan in February 2020 and the Dutch Antilles in early 2021. [3]

On 22 November 2021, Gerrard was announced as the new Chief Health Officer of Queensland, succeeding Jeannette Young as she moved into the role of Governor of Queensland. Gerrard commenced his role in mid-December 2021, [3] just as the state was in the process of reopening its borders to travellers from COVID hotspots, specifically those in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. [6]

Personal life

At the age of 6, Gerrard's brother, Steven, aged 11, died of H3N2 influenza. Gerrard is married and has two daughters. [7]

Related Research Articles

Globalization, the flow of information, goods, capital, and people across political and geographic boundaries, allows infectious diseases to rapidly spread around the world, while also allowing the alleviation of factors such as hunger and poverty, which are key determinants of global health. The spread of diseases across wide geographic scales has increased through history. Early diseases that spread from Asia to Europe were bubonic plague, influenza of various types, and similar infectious diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public health emergency of international concern</span> Formal declaration by the World Health Organization

A public health emergency of international concern is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response", formulated when a situation arises that is "serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected", which "carries implications for public health beyond the affected state's national border" and "may require immediate international action". Under the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), states have a legal duty to respond promptly to a PHEIC. The declaration is publicized by an IHR Emergency Committee (EC) of international experts, which was developed following the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak.

John Brownstein is a Canadian epidemiologist and Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School as well as the Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. His research focuses on development of computational methods in epidemiology for applications to public health also known as computational epidemiology or e-epidemiology He is also the founder of several global public health surveillance systems including HealthMap. He is most known for his work on global tracking of disease outbreaks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa Tam</span> 3rd chief public health officer of Canada

Theresa Tam is a Canadian physician and public servant who currently serves as the chief public health officer of Canada, who is the second-in-command of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Tam initially took the role as acting CPHO following the retirement of her predecessor, Gregory Taylor, on 16 December 2016. She was formally appointed on 26 June 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak</span> Disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The 2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak occurred in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from May to July 2018. It was contained entirely within Équateur province, and was the first time that vaccination with the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine had been attempted in the early stages of an Ebola outbreak, with a total of 3,481 people vaccinated. It was the ninth recorded Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kivu Ebola epidemic</span> Ebola virus outbreak in the eastern DRC from 2018 to 2020

The Kivu Ebola epidemic was an outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) mainly in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and in other parts of Central Africa, from 2018 to 2020. Between 1 August 2018 and 25 June 2020 it resulted in 3,470 reported cases. The Kivu outbreak also affected Ituri Province, whose first case was confirmed on 13 August 2018. In November 2018, the outbreak became the biggest Ebola outbreak in the DRC's history, and had become the second-largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history worldwide, behind only the 2013–2016 Western Africa epidemic. In June 2019, the virus reached Uganda, having infected a 5-year-old Congolese boy who entered Uganda with his family, but was contained.

Ansuvimab, sold under the brand name Ebanga, is a monoclonal antibody medication for the treatment of Zaire ebolavirus (Ebolavirus) infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Whitty</span> British physician and epidemiologist (born 1966)

Sir Christopher John MacRae Whitty is a British epidemiologist, serving as Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syra Madad</span> American pathogen preparedness expert

Syra Madad is an American pathogen preparedness expert and infectious disease epidemiologist. Madad is the Senior Director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals where she is part of the executive leadership team which oversees New York City's response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the city's 11 public hospitals. She was featured in the Netflix documentary series Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak and the Discovery Channel documentary The Vaccine: Conquering COVID.

The COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 10 March 2020. The first few confirmed cases were all outside arrivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Ryan (doctor)</span> Irish doctor and Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme

Michael Joseph Ryan is an Irish epidemiologist and former trauma surgeon, specialising in infectious disease and public health. He is executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, leading the team responsible for the international containment and treatment of COVID-19. Ryan has held leadership positions and has worked on various outbreak response teams in the field to eradicate the spread of diseases including bacillary dysentery, cholera, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, Marburg virus disease, measles, meningitis, relapsing fever, Rift Valley fever, SARS, and Shigellosis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convalescent plasma</span> Blood plasma from disease survivor

Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from a survivor of an infectious disease. This plasma contains antibodies specific to a pathogen and can be used therapeutically by providing passive immunity when transfusing it to a newly infected patient with the same condition. Convalescent plasma can be transfused as it has been collected or become the source material for hyperimmune serum or anti-pathogen monoclonal antibodies; the latter consists exclusively of IgG, while convalescent plasma also includes IgA and IgM. Collection is typically achieved by apheresis, but in low-to-middle income countries, the treatment can be administered as convalescent whole blood.

Colleen S. Kraft is an infectious disease physician, associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and the director of the Clinical Virology Research Laboratory at Emory University School of Medicine. In 2014, she led Emory University Hospital's effort to treat and care for Ebola virus disease patients and is currently working to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia. She currently serves on Georgia's COVID-19 task force.

Science diplomacy is the collaborative efforts by local and global entities to solve global issues using science and technology as a base. In science diplomacy, collaboration takes place to advance science but science can also be used to facilitate diplomatic relations. This allows even conflicting nations to come together through science to find solutions to global issues. Global organizations, researchers, public health officials, countries, government officials, and clinicians have previously worked together to create effective measures of infection control and subsequent treatment. They continue to do so through sharing of resources, research data, ideas, and by putting into effect laws and regulations that can further advance scientific research. Without the collaborative efforts of such entities, the world would not have the vaccines and treatments we now possess for diseases that were once considered deadly such as tuberculosis, tetanus, polio, influenza, etc. Historically, science diplomacy has proved successful in diseases such as SARS, Ebola, Zika and continues to be relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic today.

The Chief Medical Officer is the principal health advisor to the Australian government. The position is a medical appointment, reporting to the Departmental secretary for the Department of Health and Aged Care. The position is responsible for the Office of Health Protection which itself has responsibility for biosecurity, immunisation and disease surveillance. The position is also responsible for "maintaining high-quality relationships between the department, the medical profession, medical colleges, universities and other key stakeholders". Other responsibilities of the position vary according to the skills and background of the officeholder. The position was originally created in November 1982 because the newly appointed Director-General of Health was not a doctor. The position is an advisory in nature and does not have executive or operational authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020</span> Chronology of responses worldwide

This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeannette Young</span> Governor of Queensland from 1 November 2021

Jeannette Rosita Young is an Australian medical doctor and administrator who is the current governor of Queensland since 1 November 2021. Before being sworn in as governor, Young was the chief health officer of Queensland from 2005 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Varma</span> Physician and epidemiologist

Jay Varma is a physician and epidemiologist who is the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of SIGA Technologies. He previously served as senior advisor for public health and COVID-19 to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

This article documents the chronology and epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia during the first half of 2021.

Gary P. Kobinger is a Canadian immunologist and virologist who is currently the director at the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas. He has held previous professorships at Université Laval, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he was the chief of the Special Pathogens Unit at the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for eight years. Kobinger is known for his critical role in the development of both an effective Ebola vaccine and treatment. His work focuses on the development and evaluation of new vaccine platforms and immunological treatments against emerging and re-emerging viruses that are dangerous to human health.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Miles, Janelle (8 December 2021). "Meet Queensland's next chief health officer Dr John Gerrard, appointed to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic". ABC News. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Chief Health Officer". Queensland Health. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Palaszczuk, Annastacia. "Dr John Gerrard Queensland's new Chief Health Officer". Queensland Government. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  4. Layt, Stuart (22 November 2021). "John Gerrard announced as new Queensland Chief Health Officer as jab push continues despite overwhelming evidence of harms and negative efficacy". The Brisbane Times. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  5. Layt, Stuart (11 December 2021). "'We make our own luck': New CHO's single-minded focus on COVID". The Brisbane Times. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  6. Gramenz, Emilie (6 December 2021). "Queensland borders will reopen to interstate COVID-19 hotspots from next Monday, as it records no new community cases". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  7. Scott, Leisa. "'Apocalyptic' Ebola and childhood pandemic tragedy: The untold heartbreak that haunts Qld CHO". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 14 June 2022.