Ms Kate Louise Whitford

Kate joined the Kirby Institute in 2015 and completed her Master of Public Health at UNSW Sydney in 2016. Prior to her role as a research officer in the Public Health Interventions Research Group, Kate has worked on the National HIV Registry, Annual Surveillance Reports for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections and the National Trachoma Surveillance and Reporting Unit. She has worked on a range of publications and reports including: a report looking at the impact of data linkage on Indigenous status completeness in surveillance data; a systematic review of hepatitis B vaccination; an analysis of gonorrhoea trends among Australian women; and a qualitative study investigating HIV testing among female sex workers in Indonesia. Outside of the Kirby Institute she has held roles in GP and hospital settings, and an internship at the Fred Hollows Foundation. Kate is currently working on the NSW Health funded project called 'Talking Story - Learning from Aboriginal young people about sexual health': a qualitative research project exploring prevention of HIV and sexually transmissible infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in NSW. Other projects include: MOST (More Options for STI Testing), a study looking at the impacts of incentives on STI testing rates in remote communities; and STRIVEplus, a study examining the impact of continuous quality improvement in sexual health services on STI testing in Central Australia.