Dr Keith Dear

Full description

I am a biostatistician now working in environmental epidemiology. My current research is on the direct health effects of air quality in general, and temperature in particular, as well as other ways in which climate change will impact on human health. As input to the 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review, I estimated the likely changes in mortality and morbidity across Australia due to heat and cold out to 2100. I am a member of Australia's Climate Change Adaptation Research Network for Human Health, leader of NCEPH's 'Air Quality and Health' research stream, which studies health impacts of heat and air quality within our broader climate change group, and a contributing author to the IPCC.s fifth assessment report, currently in preparation. RESEARCH TOPICS: Health impacts of climate change, especially arising from the direct impacts of air quality (temperature and air pollution), Environmental impacts on immune function, especially autoimmune diseases, Environmental impacts on communicable disease, especially vector-borne disease (Ross River virus disease, Dengue fever) and food-borne disease (Salmonella), Impacts of weather on health in the Asia-Pacific region, especially Thailand.