Dr Freya Shearer

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Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

University of Melbourne

Dr Shearer’s work is focused on mitigating the impact of infectious diseases on society by integrating approaches from mathematical and statistical modelling and decision science. During the pandemic she has assisted Australia’s response to COVID-19 by using models to assist Australian and regional governments, and providing media commentary on the epidemiology and the scientific evidence underpinning Australia’s response. Her team has performed real-time monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility to inform Australia’s national re-opening plan. Freya completed her PhD at the University of Oxford in 2018 and she is currently a Senior Research Fellow in Infectious Diseases Dynamics at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne.

Related Projects

• Supporting public health preparedness and response for COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea

Related publications

• Moss, R., Price, D.J., Golding, N., Dawson, P., McVernon, J., Hyndman, R.J., Shearer, F.M. and McCaw, J.M., 2023. Forecasting COVID-19 activity in Australia to support pandemic response: May to October 2020. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.8763.
• Golding, N., Price, D.J., Ryan, G., McVernon, J., McCaw, J.M. and Shearer, F.M., 2023. A modelling approach to estimate the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 during periods of high, low, and zero case incidence. eLife, 12, p.e78089.
• Tobin, R.J., Wood, J.G., Jayasundara, D., Sara, G., Walker, C.R., Martin, G.E., McCaw, J.M., Shearer, F.M. and Price, D.J., 2023. Real-time analysis of hospital length of stay in a mixed SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta epidemic in New South Wales, Australia. BMC Infectious Diseases, 23(1), p.e28
• Shearer, F.M., Walker, J., Tellioglu, N., McCaw, J.M., McVernon, J., Black, A. and Geard, N., 2022. Rapid assessment of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 importation: Case study and lessons learned. Epidemics, 38, p.100549.
• Zachreson, C., Shearer, F.M., Price, D.J., Lydeamore, M.J., McVernon, J., McCaw, J. and Geard, N., 2022. COVID-19 in low-tolerance border quarantine systems: Impact of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. Science Advances, 8(14), p.eabm3624.
• Baker, C.M., Campbell, P.T., Chades, I., Dean, A.J., Hester, S.M., Holden, M.H., McCaw, J.M., McVernon, J., Moss, R., Shearer, F.M. and Possingham, H.P., 2022. From climate change to pandemics: decision science can help scientists have impact. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10.
• Doherty Institute, 2021. Doherty Modelling – Final report to National Cabinet, 5 November. Available at https://www.doherty.edu.au/our-work/institute-themes/viral-infectious-diseases/covid-19/covid-19-modelling/modelling (Accessed 24 April 2023).
• Shearer, F.M., Moss, R., Price, D.J., Zarebski, A.E., Ballard, P.G., McVernon, J., Ross, J.V. and McCaw, J.M., 2021. Development of an influenza pandemic decision support tool linking situational analytics to national response policy. Epidemics, 36, p.100478.
• Doherty Institute, 2021. Doherty Modelling – Final report to National Cabinet, 5 November. Available at https://www.doherty.edu.au/our-work/institute-themes/viral-infectious-diseases/covid-19/covid-19-modelling/modelling (Accessed 24 April 2023).
• Moss, R., Wood, J., Brown, D., Shearer, F.M., Black, A.J., Glass, K., Cheng, A.C., McCaw, J.M. and McVernon, J., 2020. Coronavirus disease model to inform transmission-reducing measures and health system preparedness, Australia. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26(12), p.2844.
• Alahmadi, A., Belet, S., Black, A., Cromer, D., Flegg, J.A., House, T., Jayasundara, P., Keith, J.M., McCaw, J.M., Moss, R., Ross, J.V.,Shearer, F.M., Tun, S.T.T. Walker, J., White, L., Whyte, J.M., Yan, A.W.C. and Zarebski, A.E., 2020. Influencing public health policy with data-informed mathematical models of infectious diseases: Recent developments and new challenges. Epidemics, 32, p.100393.
• Price, D.J., Shearer, F.M., Meehan, M.T., McBryde, E., Moss, R., Golding, N., Conway, E.J., Dawson, P., Cromer, D., Wood, J., Abbott, S., McVernon, J., and McCaw, J.M., 2020. Early analysis of the Australian COVID-19 epidemic. eLife, 9, p.e58785.