Professor Margie Danchin recognised by Churchill Trust for vaccine uptake work

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute researcher Professor Margie Danchin has been recognised for her work in improving vaccine confidence and uptake.

Professor Danchin was selected as a 2023 Policy Impact Program (PIP) Fellow by the Churchill Trust for her research which focuses on vaccine confidence and uptake, particularly amongst high risk-groups such as pregnant women, and in low and middle-income countries.

Her Fellowship follows the successful conclusion of her Bob and June Prickett Churchill Fellowship. Although that Fellowship was awarded in 2020, the pandemic delayed the international Component.

Professor Danchin will use her new Fellowship to help inform priority setting for the proposed new Australian Centre for Disease Control (ACDC), with the first phase planned to commence in early 2024.

Professor Margie Danchin

Professor Danchin said, “I will work closely with leading academic institutions in Australia and the Victorian and Commonwealth governments to incorporate social and behavioural science into the ACDC and ensure relevant and evidence-based policies are developed to address barriers to under-vaccination and ensure investment in cost-effective strategies to increase vaccine uptake.

“Social scientists need to have a place at the decision-making table with government, health, and academia together to ensure that there is a clear channel for data to reach decision-makers,” she said. “Social and communication science needs to be a core pillar of the ACDC, with capacity built across the Australian states and territories.”

Professor Danchin said she would use her platform on key national and international immunisation committees and advisory boards to advocate for generating demand towards routine immunisation across the lifespan.

Leader of Murdoch Children’s Vaccine Uptake Group, Professor Danchin’s research program includes research, randomised trials, systematic reviews, intervention co-design and partnerships with government and non-government organisations. She is also a consultant paediatrician at The Royal Children’s Hospital and clinician scientist at the University of Melbourne.

Professor Danchin gained expertise in vaccine clinical trials and vaccine safety as part of the Murdoch Children’s RV3-BB Rotavirus Vaccine program and Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group (VIRGO), and she currently leads the Vaccine Champion program.

Read more about Professor Danchin’s vaccine uptake work in Asia and the Pacific.