Shannon Rutherford

Associate Professor Shannon Rutherford is a transdisciplinary researcher at Griffith University’s School of Medicine & Dentistry – Public Health, where she co-leads the Ethos digital heat-health early-warning project and the Queensland Heat-Health Community of Practice. Her work spans climate epidemiology, health-system adaptation and postgraduate teaching in the Master of Public Health.

Education & Qualifications: Environmental science foundation with subsequent specialisation in public health and climate-risk translation; detailed CV entries not supplied.

Research Interests: Rutherford’s programme integrates three pillars: (i) extreme-heat epidemiology and wearable/digital warning technologies, (ii) climate-sensitive infectious-disease dynamics (dengue, malaria, TB), and (iii) policy-ready adaptation strategies for health services in Australia, Asia-Pacific and Africa. She uses mixed-methods, citizen-science and co-design to move from exposure assessment to implementation.

Publication Trends: Her 2023-2025 output reveals concentrated innovation in heat-warning systems for older adults, occupational heat stress in Bangladeshi garment factories, and systematic reviews on ambulance call-outs during Australian heatwaves. A complementary stream addresses social determinants—fast-food marketing to Nigerian adolescents, COVID-19 mental health in Bangladeshi students—demonstrating breadth across NCDs and emergent threats.

Scientific Recognition: While named awards are not listed, her research has directly informed Queensland Health’s 2023 Heatwave Management Sub-Plan and produced video resources adopted by Metro South Health and Get Ready Queensland campaigns.

Grants & Supervision: She has secured >AUD 5 M since 1999 (Wellcome, DFAT, NEMA, Queensland Government) and supervised 35 postgraduate projects (15 as principal supervisor) on topics from climate-justice heat action plans to TB IPC in Papua New Guinea.

Teams & Labs: Rutherford sits within the Griffith Climate Action Beacon, Griffith Institute for Human & Environmental Resilience, and formerly the Cities Research Institute and Griffith Asia Institute, fostering cross-faculty collaborations with engineers, data scientists and social marketers.