Senior Lecturer in Bioanthropology at UoA in Aotearoa/NZ. Infectious disease and epidemics; disability; history and memory.
Heather Battles
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‘Biggest diphtheria outbreak’ in decades spreads into Queensland, SA and WA www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Government overhauls tertiary institutions' research funding system
New research from a team I was part of w Lauren Steele, @andreatilstra.bsky.social, & other virologists & demographers:
Research on flu pandemics has been heavily shaped by 1) the 1918 flu & 2) US-specific data for other pandemics. Turns out that way understates the variety of age patterns of risk!
#NZ Scholarships to attend the Science Communicators of NZ conference in Ōtautahi #Christchurch 25-26 June
– You do not need to be an existing SCANZ member to apply
– Applications close at 5:00pm on 30 April 2026
www.scanz.co.nz/2026-scholar...
#scicomm #SciCommNZ #SCANZ2026
Congratulations to my colleagues Judith Littleton, Caitlin Bonham Smith, and Lisa Bailey on their new article in Royal Society Open Science on catastrophic mortality on Bahrain during the time of the Plague of Justinian.
Fantastic to see this finally out!
doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
Trust is key to epidemic prevention and response.
Lessons from previous Ebola outbreaks, from @bbcmediaaction.bsky.social, on the importance of building relationships with local media outlets, journalists, and health authorities before a crisis develops:
www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/...
Once again dusting off this bad boy.
Important background information about increasing number of human hantavirus cases: apnews.com/article/arge....
At the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the front line is completely overwhelmed. Our chief Africa correspondent, Declan Walsh, describes what he saw in the Ebola ward at Mongbwalu General Hospital. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/w...
AbstractBackground. Understanding age-specific mortality patterns across historic influenza pandemics is crucial for future pandemic preparedness. Prior re
Budding historians of medicine and public health: have a look at this exciting opportunity to conduct PhD research at the University of Newcastle, on a larger project of the Australian history of polio, led by Catharine Coleborne! More information at the link: www.newcastle.edu.au/study/resear...
Officials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to figure out if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise.
Abstract. As argued for the Black Death, catastrophes are rarely unicausal and identifying them needs consideration of context. Scholars have focused on th
Academics are cautiously welcoming the move but the Association of Scientists wants more detail and the Tertiary Education Union says a bigger problem is the size of the fund which has not increased for several years.
