Fiona Russell

Professor Fiona Russell (BMBS, Grad Dip Clinical Epidemiology, Diploma Paediatrics, MPHTM, FRACP, PhD) is an Australian paediatrician and epidemiologist, and has over two decades of experience in undertaking research dedicated to improving child health, especially in low- and middle-income countries.  

After completing her medical degree and further specialization in paediatrics and infectious diseases, Fiona undertook training and research in epidemiology, public health and vaccinology, and completed a PhD of a clinical trial evaluating reduced dose pneumococcal vaccination schedules in infants in Fiji. For that research, she was awarded the Chancellor and Dean’s Prize for PhD Excellence at The University of Melbourne, Australia  

Fiona serves as Director of the Child and Adolescent Health PhD Program at The University of Melbourne’s Department of Paediatrics, and as Group Leader of the Asia-Pacific Health research group at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), Australia. She led the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council‘s Centre for Research Excellence on Pneumococcal Disease Control in Asia-Pacific. She is a member of the World Health Organization’s Group B Strep vaccine development TAG and previously chaired the vaccination special interest group of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID). During COVID-19, she was an Expert Advisory Group member for the Australian government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Access for the Asia-Pacific region. 

Her research focusses primarily on optimising vaccination schedules, vaccine trials, vaccine impact studies, surveillance, understanding herd immunity, and preventing mother-to-infant transmission of infections. Her research has contributed to a paradigm shift in vaccine dosing schedules, and has informed the World Health Organization's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Position Papers over the past decade leading to significant changes in vaccine dosing schedules and the introduction of new vaccines in the Asia-Pacific region. She received Australia’s leading award in infectious diseases research, the ASID Frank Fenner Award. 

Fiona works directly with policy makers, international agencies and partners — including more than 30 consultancies for WHO, UNICEF, and development agencies — helping to shape immunisation and child-health policies in Asia, the Pacific Islands and Africa. Her interest in evidence-based policy, guided by a learning health systems approach, has strengthened decision-making processes and improved policymakers’ understanding of the evidence behind policy. It has also helped identify and address key research gaps needed to inform future policy. She co-established the Asia–Pacific Vaccine Research Network with Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia. 

Her commitment to research education helps to develop the next generation of regional leaders. She serves on the WHO Technical Advisory Group for the Development of Guidance on Best Practices for Clinical Trials, where her role focusses on underrepresented populations, including strengthening the ecosystem to ensure the inclusion of children and pregnant women.  

Beyond the immediate outcomes of immunisation and disease prevention, Fiona’s career reflects an enduring dedication to equity. Her work in low-resource settings, demonstrates her belief that all children, regardless of geography or socio-economic background, deserve equitable access to vaccines. As co-Chair of the World Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID) International Scientific Committee, she leads WSPID’s Call to Action on Fairer Vaccine Prices for all countries.