Researcher

Dr Mo Hammoud

Keywords

antiretroviral (arv) drugs

hiv pre-exposure prophylaxis

doxycycline

mental health

illicit drug use and harms

methods: observational

automated design

lgbt

artificial intelligence

automated design

SEO tags

Mental Health

Preventive Medicine

Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified

Substance Abuse

Biography

Dr Mo Hammoud has been with the Kirby Institute, within the Faculty of Medicine and Health at UNSW Sydney, since 2013. He is a Senior Research Fellow in the HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program and the Research Group Leader for the LGBTQ+ Population Health Research Group. His research focuses on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ communities, specifically addressing emerging infectious diseases, sexual health, mental health, and substance...view more

Dr Mo Hammoud has been with the Kirby Institute, within the Faculty of Medicine and Health at UNSW Sydney, since 2013. He is a Senior Research Fellow in the HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program and the Research Group Leader for the LGBTQ+ Population Health Research Group. His research focuses on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ communities, specifically addressing emerging infectious diseases, sexual health, mental health, and substance use.

Mo leads an interdisciplinary team that conducts research aimed at influencing health policy. His leadership extends to supervising higher degree researchers, guiding the next generation of scientists in LGBTQ+ population health. His contributions have been instrumental in updating the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) PrEP Guidelines and have been cited by the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and various Australian government and NGO strategies concerning mental health and illicit drug use.

His current projects include monitoring the uptake and real-world effectiveness of mpox vaccines among high-risk populations, and investigating health disparities within the LGBTQ+ population in Australia.

My Grants

NHMRC Partnership Project
Implementing population-specific psychosocial interventions to optimise treatment, care and support among men who have sex with men who use methamphetamine

NSW Health BRISE
Impact of COVID-19 on HIV, STI, and mental health among gay and bisexual men in Australia.

Gilead Sciences Australia: Fellowship Research Grant
Non-uptake of PrEP among PrEP-eligible men in the Flux Study

NSW Health: Prevention Research Support Program
Behavioural Prevention of Infectious Diseases

Department of Health: Drug and Alcohol Program
A pilot study for an online cohort of drug use, mental and physical health among lesbian, bisexual and queer women.

Kirby Institute Emerging Investigators Grant
Measuring event-level chemsex and their associated harms among Australian gay and bisexual: A pilot study

My Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy
UNSW Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity in Society.
Thesis title: Emerging practices and the potential to change HIV epidemiological trends: HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a harm reduction strategy among gay and bisexual men who engage in chemsex.

Awards:

2020: Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis. Dean of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney.
Thesis accepted without revision and received the highest rating in all examination criteria.
2020: Postgraduate Student Prize Kirby Institute, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney.
Most outstanding first-author paper by a Kirby Institute student in a peer-reviewed journal in the area of infectious diseases.

Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
Western Sydney University. MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development.
Thesis title: Can episodic memory influence the initial stage of visual word recognition?

Awards:

2011: Deans Merit Award for outstanding grades
2012: Deans Merit Award for outstanding grades

Bachelor of Information Technology (Software Engineering)
Western Sydney University.

Epidemiology & Statistics for Public Health
UNSW Sydney

Introduction to Biostatistics
The Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney

Peer Mentoring Program
UNSW Sydney

NIDA Presenting with Confidence
NIDA Corporate

NVIVO Certified Advanced User
QSR International

Mental Health First Aid
Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, University of Melbourne

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Certificate
Lifeline Australia

My Awards

2021 Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses
The Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses recognises PhD graduates who have been commended by their thesis examiners.

2020 Kirby Institute Postgraduate Student Prize
Most outstanding first author paper by a Kirby Institute student in a peer-reviewed journal

Full conference scholarship
International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections, Dublin, Ireland

Earlier Career Scientific Researcher Award - Stream C
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM)

Full scholarship to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference, Melbourne, Australia
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM)

Deans Merit Award for outstanding grades in 2011 and 2012
Western Sydney University

My Research Activities

Group Leader, Psychosocial Aspects of HIV Prevention Group

Advisory Groups

Kirby Institute Strategic Advisory Group
NSW Ministry of Health HIV Data Advisory Group
NSW HIV Prevention Partnership Project HIV Prevention Working Group
NSW HIV Prevention Partnership Project HIV Stigma Working Group
HIV Prevention during COVID-19 Reference Group

Society Memberships & Professional Activities

ACON Human Research Ethics Review Committee

My Research Supervision

Areas of supervision

Jack Freestone: Exploring sexualised drug use among LGBTQ populations and examining the impact peer led interventions to address related harms

Bernard Saliba: Arab and Gay: The impact of stigmatised identities on social connectedness and health outcomes of young gay and bisexual men of Arabic-speaking backgrounds.

Currently supervising

Jack Freestone: Exploring sexualised drug use among LGBTQ populations and examining the impact peer led interventions to address related harms

Bernard Saliba: Arab and Gay: The impact of stigmatised identities on social connectedness and health outcomes of young gay and bisexual men of Arabic-speaking backgrounds.