Sarah Bernays

Associate Professor Sarah Bernays is an academic in Global Health at the Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney. She co-directs the Master of Global Health program and leads a social science research program on community engagement in infectious disease prevention, treatment, and care. Her work focuses on adolescent global health, particularly in low- and high-income countries, addressing sexual and reproductive health, substance use, and HIV/AIDS. Bernays moved from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to the University of Sydney in 2017. She holds affiliations with the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, and Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute.

Education: She studied Social Anthropology at Edinburgh University and completed a PhD in Medical Sociology at Imperial College London/LSHTM in 2011, focusing on HIV/AIDS in Serbia. Prior to academia, she worked in HIV community programs in the UK, Africa, and the Pacific.

Research Interests: Bernays’ current projects include the 'Zvandi Trial' in Zimbabwe, evaluating community peer support for HIV viral load management, and the 'ODYSSEY' study in Uganda and Zimbabwe on adherence support for adolescents on second-line HIV therapy. She also leads the development of a Youth Trials Board model for pediatric clinical trials and co-designs harm reduction interventions for mobile youth in South Africa and Uganda.

Grants and Collaborations: Her work involves multidisciplinary teams collaborating across institutions like LSHTM, University College London, and the University of Zimbabwe. Key projects address barriers to healthcare access, stigma, and community engagement in health interventions. She mentors students and researchers, including co-supervising projects on community participation in pandemic response and tuberculosis research.

Labs/Teams: Bernays is part of the Sydney Global Maternal and Child Health Network and contributes to initiatives like the Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, focusing on translational research to improve health outcomes globally.