Victoria Brookes

Victoria Brookes is an Associate Professor in Epidemiology and One Health at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Science. She holds Fellowships in Epidemiology (ANZCVS) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RVC). Her research focuses on evidence-based approaches to emerging and neglected infectious diseases through One Health frameworks. She has led projects on disease preparedness in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Indigenous community health initiatives, and zoonotic diseases like rabies and Japanese encephalitis. Her work integrates field studies, risk assessments, and mathematical modeling.

Dr. Brookes has extensive emergency disease response experience, including the 2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak and the 2007 Australian equine influenza crisis. Her current roles include Section Editor for PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and membership in Sydney's Southeast Asia Centre. Key research themes include wildlife-livestock interfaces, disease modeling, and Indigenous community-based surveillance.

Publications span over 100 peer-reviewed articles, with recent focus on Japanese encephalitis epidemiology, rabies control strategies, and biosecurity practices in agriculture. Awards include ANZCVS Epidemiology Fellowship and RCVS Fellowship. She teaches epidemiology, One Health, and emerging diseases at undergraduate to PhD levels. Current grants support Japanese encephalitis modeling, rabies preparedness, and Q fever research.

Her lab collaborates globally on zoonotic disease projects, with active grants including a University of Sydney/Glasgow Health Inequalities initiative and a Sydney-SE Asia collaborative grant. Notable collaborations involve Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and India for field studies.